Newspaper headlines: ‘£4,500 to get Covid’ and ‘parents test children’

image captionParents will be asked to test their children for coronavirus twice a week, the Daily Telegraph reports. The plan to allow a phased return to the classroom and will involve secondary school pupils taking lateral flow tests at home during term time, the paper says. Elsewhere, like many of the papers it carries a picture of the Duke of Edinburgh after his admission to hospital in London.

image caption“£4,500 to get Covid” is the Metro’s headline – as it reports a new clinical trial where young healthy volunteers will be deliberately infected. The paper says as many as 90 recruits will spend at least 16 days quarantined after “receiving drops of coronavirus up their nose”.

image captionWhile Covid infections have fallen by two-thirds in a month, the virus is now spreading most among primary-age children and young people, says the Guardian. It has seen a study that suggests national lockdown is having an impact despite new variants. Separately, the paper pictures Zara Mohammed, the first woman to lead the Muslim Council of Britain, who it says is at the centre of a BBC row over what has been criticised as an overly “hostile” interview on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.

image captionEasing lockdown measures in England will be based on “data not dates” Boris Johnson is quoted as saying by the Express. The paper notes the PM’s call for a “prudent approach” to end lockdown. Its main picture shows Prince Philip beside the Queen – as an exclusive story claims Prince Harry wants to return to the UK for a tribute to his mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

image captionStudents are turning to “safe” careers amid the pandemic, says the Times, which quotes figures that suggest applications for medicine, nursing and engineering courses have surged in popularity. Languages, history and classical studies are among the courses to see applications fall, the paper adds.

image captionThe i paper reveals what it says is an NHS blueprint for tackling Covid vaccine hesitancy. A top medic tells the paper that “scare stories and myths online cost lives”.

image caption“Hope you Phil better” says the Sun as it reports a source as describing the duke – who is 100 in June – as “in good spirits” during his stay in hospital.

image captionBoris Johnson’s former Brexit negotiator is to join the cabinet to take charge of the UK’s future relationship with the EU, the FT reports. It says Lord Frost’s promotion follows a “power struggle at the heart of Downing Street”. Elsewhere, it pictures Italy’s new prime minister Mario Draghi who has promised to speed-up the country’s vaccine rollout.

image captionAnd a typical contrarian take on the news from the Daily Star sees the paper report a study that suggests bald men with beards “are the best in the sack”. It’s headline? “Slaphead and tickle!”