Newspaper headlines: '£4,500 to get Covid' and 'parents test children'
Thursday's newspapers report Boris Johnson's cautious words on lockdown easing - and the Duke of Edinburgh's stay in hospital.
By BBC NewsStaff The Daily Telegraph says the government's plans to reopen schools in England will involve parents testing their children for coronavirus twice a week at home. Ministers had wanted schools to oversee mass testing - a hope described by the paper as a "major point of tension" with head teachers - and the agreement that secondary school pupils should instead take bi-weekly lateral-flow tests at home during term time is said to be a "compromise" between unions and the government. The Guardian highlights why the testing of young people could become a crucial issue, pointing to the latest React study of infection rates by Imperial College London and the suggestion that Covid-19 is now spreading most among 18 to 24-year-olds and and children aged between 5 and 12. The Express and the Mirror both report comments by the prime minister, insisting on a "cautious" data-led approach to lifting the lockdown. It is a position which appears to have frustrated the Daily Mail, given its headline: "Now take the brakes off, Boris!" Business chiefs and MPs are part of the "growing clamour" for more haste, it says, amid fears restrictions could last until July. A section of the Mail's leader column is reprinted on its front page, noting that Mr Johnson "bet big" on a vaccine and "marvellously" hit the jackpot. "So light the touch paper, Boris", it concludes, "and set the nation free!" 'Power struggle' The main news for the Financial Times is the end of what it calls a "power struggle at the heart of Downing Street" - won by Mr Johnson's former Brexit negotiator, Lord Frost. The peer has been given a seat in the Cabinet, charged with overseeing the UK's future relationship with the EU - replacing Michael Gove, who the FT says was given the job on an interim basis "only two days ago". Whitehall sources tell the paper Lord Frost "had demanded a ministerial role" to shape Britain's EU relations and threatened to resign as the prime minister's adviser if he failed to get his way. Figures from the university admissions service, Ucas, interest the Times, which says they show the pandemic has sent students "flocking" to so-called safe vocations that provide secure career paths. Applications for medicine, engineering and teaching courses have all increased while there's less demand for subjects including philosophy and classics. More than 60,000 people have applied to study nursing - up by a third on last year's figure. The Times says many of those could be looking to change career, as more than 10,000 applications are from mature students over the age of 35. Sign up for a morning briefing direct to your inbox With the headline, "Hope You Phil Better", the Sun focuses on the announcement by Buckingham Palace that the Duke of Edinburgh was taken to hospital on Tuesday evening as a precaution after feeling unwell. Photographs of Prince Philip feature on almost every front page, including the Times, which says that although he walked into hospital unaided, his admission at the age of 99 "is bound to raise concern". Palace sources say the duke's illness is not related to the pandemic - and the Times says it's not known if he's being treated for the same pre-existing condition that prompted a four-night stay in hospital in December 2019. You had one jab And finally. The political editor of the Liverpool Echo has written of his bemusement at being offered a coronavirus vaccine - because his height of 6ft 2in had been wrongly recorded as being just 6.2cm. Liam Thorp says the mix-up was confirmed in a phone call from a "nervous sounding chap" at his GP surgery. The tiny measurement, combined with his weight, gave a body mass index of 28,000 - rather concerning when the NHS says 40 and above is severely obese. Mr Thorp says he hopes the "amusing" incident encourages other people who think they've been mistakenly offered a jab to contact health officials.