British newspapers were wrapped up in scandal today following news that a Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) adviser has stood down from his role after breaching social distancing rules.
The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail report that Professor Neil Ferguson, the man behind the nation’s strict lockdown measures, has resigned after breaking social distancing restrictions to “meet his married lover”.
The Metro says Prof Ferguson warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson days before the lockdown was implemented that “Britain faced up to 500,000 dead” without strictly-enforced social distancing measures.
Prof Ferguson “deeply regrets” undermining “the continuing need for social distancing”, according to The Sun.
The rest of world talks about Britain
But while UK newspapers distract with lockdown scandal, the rest of the world is talking about Britain.
As Liz Webster pointed out, publications across the world turned their attention to the true scandal to be rocking the country today; that the UK coronavirus death toll is now the highest in Europe.
The Office for National Statistics revelation that 29,648 deaths were registered in England and Wales by 2 May with Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificates should have taken pride of place on front pages.
With the addition of deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland, this takes the UK’s death toll to 32,313, according to calculations by Reuters.
This figure far exceeds the death toll of 29,029 in Italy – until now Europe’s worst-hit country, although Italy’s total does not include suspected cases.
Headlines across the world
But it didn’t escape the gaze of the media elsewhere.
We take a look at headlines across the world:
Turkey: Boris Johnson’s COVID-19 mismanagement: What went wrong?
Australia: ‘Biggest failure in a generation’: Where did Britain go wrong?
Canada: British officials criticized for slow response to pandemic as deaths top ‘best-case’ estimates
US: The comforting and misleading political response to Britain’s coronavirus disaster
Portugal: Covid-19: United Kingdom surpasses Italy and is the European country with the most deaths
