Newspaper headlines: UK faces 'major' outbreak and 'mansion tax' plans By BBC News

Staff Published duration 9 February

image copyright Getty Images image caption The latest coronavirus developments make the front pages of several newspapers

The latest coronavirus developments make many of the front pages.

It reports that top microbiologist, Prof Peter Piot, has warned the virus could be more deadly than ebola.

He tells the paper he is increasingly alarmed by the speed that it is spreading, and that dealing with the virus could overwhelm the NHS.

The paper's Asia correspondent provides insight into how "heroic" doctors in Wuhan are working in grim conditions. Some have been wearing nappies to avoid bathroom breaks which would risk infection, while others are going without protective suits because of a shortage of supplies.

The Observer's coverage focuses on the Britons infected in the Alps and on the "final flight" returning Britons from Wuhan to the UK.

Anyone on board with symptoms will be taken to hospital for treatment, it says - the rest will be quarantined for a fortnight, near Milton Keynes.

The Sunday Express warns that fears of a possible pandemic are increasing and that as one expert, Prof Robert Dingwall, puts it: "The genie has escaped from the bottle."

Prof Hugh Pennington tells the paper the government should be modifying plans for any pandemic on a daily basis.

The Sunday Telegraph leads on what it describes as "shock plans" being considered by Boris Johnson to impose a mansion tax and make severe cuts to pension relief.

The paper says it has been told by two separate sources that ideas to raise more tax from wealthy homeowners had been discussed on a number of occasions recently at the Treasury and Number 10.

The paper suggests the PM's trying to show the Tories are no longer the party of the middle classes and Southern shires, but that the move could infuriate grassroots supporters.

On the inside pages, Bob's cartoon shows a bemused flat-capped gent with accompanying dog - possibly a whippet - eyeing a Tory campaign billboard emblazoned with the slogan: "We'll tax them soft southerners: T'Conservatives."

HS2 'to get green light'

The fate of the high speed rail project, HS2 is also extensively covered.

"Johnson to give HS2 green light despite Tory fears" is the headline in the Observer

The Sunday Times reports that the prime minister will give the go-ahead, after Tory donors with links to the construction industry warned that cancelling would result in about 250,000 job losses.

"HS2 trains to hit top speeds on just half the line" is the possibility presented by the Sunday Telegraph

The paper lines up critics to point out that this fundamentally undermines the reason for the high-speed rail line.

Questions are raised by the Mirror about what it suggests is another Army scandal which has left a furious and grieving family looking for answers.

Under the headline "Soldier lay dead in barracks for three weeks" it details how the body of Lance Corporal Bernard Mongan - a veteran of the Iraq War - was eventually discovered in his room at Catterick barracks in late January.

The soldier, who'd reported being bullied, had last made contact with his family on New Year's Day.

His widow, Beth, told the paper it was "outrageous" that a soldier could be dead in his room for three weeks without anybody noticing.

image copyright PA Media image caption The Sunday Telegraph leads on what it calls "shock plans" being considered by Boris Johnson to impose a mansion tax and make severe cuts to pension relief

"Harry Dunn's killer was a CIA spy" is the splash in the Mail on Sunday

It says it can exclusively reveal that Anne Sacoolas, who returned to the United States under diplomatic immunity after the accident which killed the teenager, was actually a more senior CIA agent than her husband.

The paper claims multiple sources in both Washington and London have confirmed her background and that British ministers and officials are aware.

The Observer leads on a claim that the medical data of millions of NHS patients has been sold by the Department of Health and Social Care to international drugs companies without proper anonymity.

The paper says senior NHS figures have raised concerns that data from GPs and hospitals, which patients had been told would remain anonymous, can routinely be linked back to their individual records via their GP surgeries.

It suggests the sale of such data raised £10m in 2018 alone.

The Department of Health and Social Care has insisted thorough measures are taken to ensure anonymity and confidentiality are maintained.

And finally, the Sunday Times warns that "idle gardeners" who value a quick fix and all-year round greenery are contributing to a massive upsurge in demand for plastic and synthetic plants.