In today’s briefing update, we look at Sunday’s top stories. Most papers focus on Covid-19, lockdown and a reminder for those who have been vaccinated to continue following the rules.  

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The Sunday Telegraph says the Home Office is backing plans for British families returning from their holidays abroad to pay to spend 10 days in a heavily guarded airport hotel. The paper says talks are already underway with hotel chains, including the Holiday Inn owner, IHG.

The Independent says the quarantine plans are certain to be approved by the cabinet on Monday, but the “fight” will be over whether they’ll involve all passengers or just those returning from high-risk countries.

Sources tell the Mail on Sunday that the prime minister favours a “targeted approach”.

The Sunday Express believes the prime minister will face a “major rebellion” in March if he hasn’t started easing lockdown restrictions. The paper says senior MPs have warned significant numbers could vote against Boris Johnson’s attempt to renew the government’s emergency powers for six months.

Meanwhile, the Sun on Sunday reports on its front page that the serial killer Levi Bellfield, who murdered 13-year-old Milly Dowler in 2002, has received an invite for a vaccine in prison. The Sun calls this priority treatment “sickening” and suggests he should be put to the “back of a very long queue.”

At last, the Scottish Mail on Sunday opines in its main headline, vaccines are to be rolled out in Scotland seven days a week. This, it notes, is a month behind England.

Below are our top picks of the Sunday Papers

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Don’t break the rules once you had the vaccine 

The Sunday Telegraph says those who have had the Covid-19 vaccine must stick to lockdown rules because they “may still give [it] to someone else”. England’s deputy chief medical officer, writes in the paper that scientists “do not yet know the impact of the vaccine on the transmission”. The paper also reports that the government “has quietly extended lockdown laws” to give councils the power to close some venues until July. The story is accompanied on the front page by a smiling Sir Kenneth Branagh, who will play Boris Johnson in a Sky drama about the pandemic. – Daily Telegraph

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Van-Tam: Let’s stay patient 

The Sunday Express also leads on Prof Van-Tam urging people to “stay patient with lockdown restrictions” as the UK approaches six million vaccinations. The paper notes that doctors have criticised the extension of the gap between doses of the Pfizer vaccine and have disputed the deadliness of the UK variant. It concludes that Prof Van-Tam is “a voice of reason”. – Daily Express

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Boris’s biggest gamble 

That contention over the gap between the first and second Pfizer jabs makes the front page of the Sunday People. The paper says the decision to extend the wait from three to 12 weeks so that initial injections could be given to more people sooner is “the biggest gamble” of the prime minister’s career, as it reports that “dozens of care home residents have died with Covid after the jab”. – Daily Mirror

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Minister faces fury over mass Covid outbreak at  State Agency 

The Observer says that more than 500 cases of coronavirus have been recorded at the DVLA in Swansea, sparking an “explosive row” over ministers’ “failure to protect workers”. Employees claim “people with symptoms were encouraged to return to work” and vulnerable workers were not able to work from home, the paper says. The DVLA insists safety is a priority and “staff in roles that enable them to work from home are doing so and have throughout”. – The Guardian

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Top Schools: We can jab all teachers

The Mail on Sunday reports that headteachers in the “Britain’s top schools” have “unveiled a bold plan to vaccinate the country’s entire teaching staff” over the February half-term. It urges Mr Johnson to back the plan – which aims to get pupils back to school “within weeks” – as it “could prove a political lifeline” for him. – Daily Mail 

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Our disunited Kingdom

The Sunday Times lead with polls it commissioned that suggest “the majority of” Scottish and Northern Irish voters “want referendums on the break-up of Britain”. The paper suggests it reveals a “disunited kingdom” and laments that “the sense of British identity that once bound the country together is disintegrating”. – Times