The Papers: Leaked back-to-work plan and \'glimmer of hope\'

Newspaper headlines: Leaked back-to-work coronavirus plan and NHS app

By BBC News Staff
Daily Mirror
Image caption Leaked government guidance on how people could return to work makes the front pages of several newspapers. The Daily Mirror suggests regions of the UK could face "local lockdowns" if there are signs of another virus outbreak. The draft documents also showed the government is considering relaxing the two-metre social distancing rule for some businesses, the paper says.
The Sun
Image caption The Sun says the draft documents suggest one-way systems will be the norm in offices, and employers will be encouraged to keep staff working from home. The paper also says it has been told social distancing rules could be in place for up to a year. It says the government has told workplaces that measures such as staggered shift times and protective screens at desks could be needed well into next year.
The Guardian
Image caption The Guardian also reports on the draft guidance for workplaces but focuses on the reaction from trade unions, which have warned workers could stage walkouts "unless the government can guarantee their safety". Labour and the unions say the guidance is vague and inadequate, and that people with conditions like asthma and diabetes could be forced to work without the right protection. Meanwhile, the paper's main picture shows five friends from Birmingham who all died with the disease.
Financial Times Tuesday
Image caption Trade unions are "at loggerheads" with business leaders over the draft workplace rules, the Financial Times suggests. The paper says Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has joined unions in calling for firms to publish workplace risk assessments for the virus, but businesses say that could be too bureaucratic. Meanwhile, the paper's front page carries a photo of two pensioners in Italy embracing their grandchildren after two months of social distancing.
Metro newspaper Tuesday
Image caption There's some positive news about the coronavirus outbreak on the Metro's front page: London's Nightingale Hospital, which was built in 10 days to prepare for the pandemic, is being "mothballed" after infections fell in the capital. There are just 20 people being treated there at the moment, the paper says - despite the hospital having capacity for 4,000 patients. The Metro adds the hospital could resume taking patients if the need arises, but for now the current patients will be transferred elsewhere.
Daily Express
Image caption Also leading with a positive story on its front page is the Daily Express. It says the daily number of people who have died with coronavirus is at its lowest level since March, describing it as a "glimmer of hope". The paper also refers to the plan for an NHS app which is being trialled on the Isle of Wight, and which helps to track the spread of the virus.
The Times Tuesday
Image caption The new contact-tracing app for smartphones is the focus for the Times. It says ministers are planning to run a nationwide campaign telling people it is their duty to download the new "track-and-trace" app, which is already being trialled on the Isle of Wight. But the paper says some MPs and academics have expressed concerns about privacy, asking whether a "less intrusive system" could have been designed. GCHQ has published a blog to allay privacy fears, the paper adds.
The i newspaper
Image caption The i newspaper also leads with the latest on the new NHS app. The paper says according to health chiefs, at least half of all adults need to get the app for it to be effective and for "restrictions to be lifted faster".
Daily Telegraph Tuesday
Image caption Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph looks at the impact of the government's financial policies to help people affected by coronavirus. It says 27 million people - or more than half of Britain's adult population - are now being paid by the state, although that figure includes benefit claimants and public sector workers. The paper says Chancellor Rishi Sunak has warned the furlough scheme - where the government pays 80% of workers' salaries - is "not sustainable".
Daily Star
Image caption The Daily Star leads with a story about the country's weekly Clap for Carers, where people open their windows and front doors and applaud NHS staff and key workers. The paper says one medic is claiming the Thursday night clap has led to a spike of incidents in A&E, and is asking well-wishers to "tone down the wild cheering".
Daily Mail Tuesday
Image caption Meanwhile, the Daily Mail says the government has ordered an "urgent review" into whether obesity, ethnicity and gender raise the risk of dying from the coronavirus. The paper says Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was too early to confirm that there was a link to weight, but said data from around the world had suggested this was the case. University of Liverpool researchers warned that obesity increased the risk of dying by the virus by more than a third, the paper adds.

Several of Tuesday's newspaper front pages focus on concerns about the government's draft guidance for getting people to work.

The Guardian says the plans have angered trade unions who consider them "vague and inadequate".

Writing in the paper, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, Frances O'Grady, demands that companies carry out - and make public - bespoke coronavirus risk assessments, to ensure that their staff are kept safe.

"Businesses don't operate in vacuums", she says. "Any actions they fail to take will impact the rates of infection in the areas where they're located."

The Daily Mirror points out that the guidance asks firms to "consider" making alterations to their offices, such as installing screens, rather than forcing them to do so.

The Financial Times believes the guidance has put the unions at "loggerheads" with industry leaders who fear that some of the changes will be too bureaucratic for smaller businesses, many of which already follow high regulatory standards.

Image copyright Reuters
Image caption Protective screens are among alternatives to social distancing suggested in a draft document

Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph reports that more than half of all adults in Britain are currently receiving money from the state, when furloughed workers and benefit claimants are counted alongside public sector staff and pensioners.

The paper says Chancellor Rishi Sunak has assured the 6.3 million people whose wages are currently being paid by the government under the furlough scheme there will be no "cliff edge" - but he acknowledged that the scheme may be costing as much as the entire NHS budget.

The former Conservative leader, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, tells the Telegraph that such high spending is "unsustainable" and proves "we have to unlock the lockdown urgently".

Image copyright PA Media
Image caption The government said it had distributed £8bn so far to pay the salaries of furloughed workers

The Times columnist, Melanie Phillips, urges Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ignore such siren calls. "These economy-firsters", she claims, "say that now the virus is under control, there's no reason to continue the lockdown - ignoring the fact that it's only because of the lockdown that it's under control".

Contact tracing app

As the government starts trialling its coronavirus contact tracing app on the Isle of Wight, there are claims that the technology could make it harder for Britons to go abroad once lockdown restrictions are eased.

The Daily Telegraph says the app's operating system is incompatible with those already being used in countries like Germany and Switzerland.

That could mean - if contact tracing becomes compulsory for travel - that British travellers are asked to quarantine for a fortnight when they reach their destination. One expert tells the paper that "geopolitical forces" might force the UK government to "change horses" and rethink the system.

In its leader column, the Times says the more pressing issue is making sure the app works - which, it suggests, is "by no means assured".

Image copyright NHS
Image caption The new app works by using a Bluetooth connection

According to the Health Service Journal website, early versions were "a bit wobbly" and failed to meet the basic standards on cybersecurity and clinical safety needed for the app to be included in the NHS digital library. In the Telegraph, the Department of Health dismissed the HSJ report as "factually untrue".

The Financial Times points out that the success of the technology will ultimately depend on enough people downloading the app for it to provide meaningful data.

Meanwhile, there's an array of pictures from Italy, where officials started lifting strict restrictions on people's movement yesterday.

The Daily Mail shows an elderly couple from Milan beaming through their face masks as they hug their grandchildren for the first time in almost two months.

In another, a large, socially-distanced crowd stands underneath a clear blue sky outside St Mark's Basilica in Venice.

Image copyright EPA
Image caption From Monday, people in Italy were able to visit relatives for the first time

The Guardian casts further doubt on US President Donald Trump's claim that Covid-19 emanated from a Chinese laboratory. The paper quotes anonymous intelligence sources who say there is no evidence currently available to support that theory.

They also deny that British intelligence formed part of a dossier credited to "Western governments" that appeared in the Australian press at the weekend, accusing Beijing of a cover-up.

The Conservative MP, Neil O'Brien, who helped set up a new policy group on China, says transparency is the only way to fend off speculation. "If they were less secretive and authoritarian, they would potentially put to bed wilder ideas about the origins of the virus," he tells the Guardian.

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The Daily Mail reports on claims that store managers at the furniture retailer Harveys, have been asked to check on their stores - despite being furloughed.

One manager says colleagues were left "very upset" by the requests and had been "pestered" on social media by senior bosses if they did not go.

The government's furlough scheme requires staff who have been temporarily laid off to remain at home. In a statement, Harveys says managers with keys were given the option to check on a number of stores where there had been leaks or attempted break-ins in recent weeks - and at no point had anyone been asked formally to work.

Love Island off

And the tabloids mourn the cancellation of one of ITV's most popular programmes, Love Island, due to coronavirus.

"Even in these grim times", says the Sun, "one announcement yesterday was too much to bear".

The paper claims the broadcaster's schedules have been "thrown into chaos" by the decision, as posturing Instagram stars hoping to appear on the reality dating show face the prospect of a much less glamorous summer.

The Daily Mirror ponders how they might otherwise fill their time. "They could practise their conversation," it suggests - "at a responsible social distance, of course".

And finally, "unhappy clappers" is how the Sun describes a row in the Surrey town of Ashford over the weekly applause for key workers.

The paper reports that one resident, Perry Clark, has had his knuckles wrapped for playing stirring music by Dame Vera Lynn and Captain Tom Moore through a loudspeaker - so his neighbours can sing along as they clap each Thursday evening.

Mr Clark says it was a "real slap in the face" to receive a letter from the local council, telling him a complaint had been made. "Everyone here loves it", he insists. "We just want a good time."