THE blame game, debt owed to key workers and reality television were the coronavirus topics debated by columnists in the newspapers.

The Daily Mail

Stephen Glover said he believed we would be in a similar position with Covid no matter who was in charge.

“That’s not to deny the Prime Minister has made many mistakes, as has been pointed out by countless commentators including me,” he said. “But the suggestion the Government is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths — which is what some BBC journalists and the Labour Party imply — is tendentious, to say the least.”

He said the Government couldn’t be blamed for the UK’s high population density or ageing population.

“The decision to shove thousands of untested patients out of NHS hospitals and into care homes was partly to blame,” he said. “That was scarcely Boris Johnson’s fault. Health Secretary Matt Hancock is not free of responsibility, but the people who should carry the can are senior NHS managers.”

He said we needed to acknowledge the failings of ‘legions of civil servants and quangocrats’ and called for an official inquiry into the failure of public services.

The Daily Express

Leo McKinstry said that, outside the NHS, the professions with the highest mortality rates were refuse collectors, machinists and shop assistants.

“Those findings are particularly poignant because these are the occupations that have heroically kept our society functioning throughout the crisis,” he said. “A huge debt is owed to all key workers. Without the brave men and women who deliver the mail, empty the bins, run the care homes, drive the buses, staff essential shops and maintain supplies, Britain would have broken down.”

He said not enough credit was given to those doing the real hard work.“All labour that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance,” said US civil rights leader Martin Luther King. His words should be resonating in today’s Britain.”

The Guardian

Laura Martin said she has been hooked on reality tv during lockdown and may be well on her way to completing a PhD on it.

“With nothing to talk about in our lives apart from the pandemic, conversations with friends and family quickly descend into silence,” she said. “Life has been drained of any juicy content, and there’s a huge gossip-shaped hole in my daily existence. But reality TV has stepped in to fill the void.”

She said humans will always be obsessed discussing other people and there lay the genius of reality tv - ‘we’re watching people talk about people talking about people.’

“At the moment, reality TV reminds us – somewhat nostalgically – that there was and will be a life beyond the pandemic,” she added.