Newspaper headlines: Hospital ‘crisis’ and police ‘get tough’ on fines

image caption“Doctors raise alarm as Covid strikes down NHS workforce” leads the Observer. The paper cites a letter from the chair of the British Medical Association, which has warned there are more than 46,000 hospital staff off sick with the virus. The staff absences are “heaping additional pressure on an already overstretched workforce struggling to manage even current critical care demand”, Chaand Nagpaul said. The vaccination programme is reportedly being impacted by healthcare workers falling ill. Dr Nagpaul said doctors and other health workers needed to be vaccinated as soon as possible. More than 80,000 people have died in the UK within 28 days of a positive Covid death, figures released on Saturday show.

image captionEngland’s chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty has written in the Sunday Telegraph to warn that emergency patients will be turned away from hospitals if people do not abide by coronavirus restrictions. “Every unnecessary interaction you have could be the link in a chain of transmission which has a vulnerable person at the end,” he has written. The NHS is at risk of becoming overwhelmed within two weeks, he added.

image captionThe Sunday Telegraph reports that police officers have been told to fine people in breach of Covid rules £200 if they refuse to go home after the first time of asking. The paper says new guidance given to all chief constables marks a “significant hardening” in policing England’s third national lockdown. A Home Office insider is quoted as telling the paper: “If there was a gunman who killed 1,000 people yesterday running around the country and the government said ‘stay at home’, everyone would say, ‘OK I’ll do that, I won’t go for a coffee with some friends and walk around the park.'” Meanwhile, NHS hospitals are treating fewer than half of the cancer patients they normally would, the paper reports, as doctors prioritise those with the virus.

image captionThe Sunday People carries a plea from NHS nurse Ameera Sheikh who has urged people to follow the rules. “Death is all around us” is the headline.

image captionDominating the front of the Sunday Express is a photo of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh who have received their Covid-19 vaccinations. They were vaccinated at Windsor Castle. More than 1.5 million Britons have been given the vaccine, the paper adds.

image caption“A shot in the ma’am” is the Sunday Mirror’s take on the Queen and Prince Philip receiving their vaccines. The move, the paper says, “sends a clear message to anti-vaxxers”. The paper quotes a source who said they went public “to prevent further speculation”.

image captionThe Mail on Sunday says the royal couple received their first jab only when it became available to others in Berkshire “to avoid any suggestion of special treatment”. The same will be applied to the second injection, according to the paper. It has not been revealed whether they received the Oxford or the Pfizer vaccine.

image captionElsewhere, the Daily Star Sunday says a special forces unit has been trained to respond to any alien attacks.