Getty Images“Ping rules change to end the UK’s shutdown” is the headline on the front of the i, as it reports on the update to self-isolation rules for thousands of critical workers in England.
The Daily Express hails it as a “victory for common sense”. The Times says the decision represents a “retreat” by Boris Johnson – who at the start of the week said only a “very small” number of people would be exempt from having to isolate.
The paper describes an “erratic response” by ministers to the so-called “pingdemic”, which it says risks undermining public confidence in the Covid-19 app, and in the government itself.
The signatories include representatives of the retail, hospitality and travel sectors, whose employees are not covered by the changes to the system in England. The letter says the current approach to self-isolation is “closing down the economy, rather than opening it up, and causing huge damage”.
The Daily Telegraph’s lead is the Oxford University study which suggests that daily testing may be just as effective at controlling the spread of Covid in schools as isolating bubbles of children.
In its leader column, the Telegraph complains about how “enormously frustrating” it is that this research was only released as schools break up for summer – and after the government had already vowed to end the isolation rules for children.
The Daily Star, meanwhile, is concerned about the whereabouts of Education Secretary Gavin Williamson – and has mocked up a spoof missing person’s poster to help in its search for him.
The paper claims Mr Williamson has only been seen once or twice since the pandemic started and says that parents are “baffled” that he hasn’t spoken about the “end-of-term chaos” caused by so many children in England being forced to stay at home.
The Times reports that an artificial intelligence breakthrough by British scientists promises to deliver a revolution in the life sciences.
It explains that a team from the AI company, Deepmind, used a computer program to predict the shape of 350,000 protein structures – the building blocks that make up all living organisms.
The mother of Ben Needham, who was 21 months old when he went missing on the Greek island of Kos 30 years ago, has told the Daily Mirror she refuses to believe that her son is dead.
Police think the toddler may have been killed by a digger accident. The paper includes an image of how Ben could look as a grown man, which Kerry Needham says she wants the world to share.
And according to the Sun, the England football captain Harry Kane is poised for a £160m move from Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester City.
The paper claims the Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, has finally “caved in” having previously said he wouldn’t sell the striker to a Premier League rival. The headline – “You Kane go”.
