Pro-Tory newspapers turn on Boris Johnson over handling of coronavirus

Most critical front pages of the day came from the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph. Photograph: Twitter. - Credit: Archant

Even the Conservative-backing newspapers are growing weary of the government’s handling of the coronavirus epidemic.

The front cover of the Telegraph newspaper. Photograph: Twitter. – Credit: Archant

The Daily Mail uses a ‘statistic that humbles ministers’ by reporting that of the 550,000 NHS staff only 2,000 people had been tested.

It’s ‘the latest shocking example of our testing scandal’ but the newspaper claims it has stung ‘Boris into action’.

The Times uses the headline ‘virus testing plans in chaos’ as it claims Boris Johnson has been forced to shift strategy on the government’s testing regime after criticism of the slow pace of checks on NHS staff.

The Daily Telegraph is the most critical with the headline ‘Questions without answers’,m t asks why the UK is lagging behind other nations on testing, why so few NHS workers have been tested, and asks when new antibody tests will be ready.

The Guardian warns that coronavirus patients ‘more likely to die’ will have their ventilators taken away.

It says that the British Medical Association has suggested young, healthier people are likely to be given priority.

The Metro warns that staff people in hospitals were putting their lives at risks, the Mirror brands it a ‘shambles’ that a testing station lies empty, and the i says that NHS frontline staff are being ‘let down on testing’.

The criticism, however, didn’t stretch as far as The Sun, who are urging another round of applause for the NHS on Thursday evening, and the Express focuses on ‘rip-off charges’ from the banks.

The front cover of the Times newspaper. Photograph: Twitter. – Credit: Archant

The front cover of the Daily Mail newspaper. Photograph: Twitter. – Credit: Archant


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