What the papers say – March 23

Concerns as coronavirus cases surge in Europe and the UK marking one year since the first lockdown are splashed across the papers on Tuesday.

The Independent marks “Britain’s year of loss” as The Sun carries the Prime Minister’s “message of hope for our future” to “Never Lock Back”.

But there are fears of a third wave of the pandemic as cases surge in Europe, according to the Daily Mirror and the Daily Express.

Those concerns will see the ban on Britons travelling overseas extended until July and £5,000 fines for those who try to leave the country, The Times and the Daily Mail say.

The i reports Ireland’s Taoiseach Micheal Martin said an EU ban on vaccine exports would be a “very retrograde step”.

Metro praises a major US trial which found no deaths or serious coronavirus infections among those given the AstraZeneca jab, with the Daily Star saying the development is “guaranteed to make our old pals in Europe go stark raving bonkers”.

Leaked Cabinet documents in The Daily Telegraph show the PM has agreed to make vaccinations a legal requirement for care home staff.

A barrister has cleared Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of breaching the ministerial code in relation to the probe into Alex Salmond, reports The Guardian.

And the Financial Times says sanctions by the UK, EU, US and Canada against China over the treatment of its population of Uighur Mulims has sparked an “instant retaliation” from Beijing.