Newspaper headlines: 'Backlash' at masks in schools and NHS staffing 'crisis'

Both the Guardian and the Times highlight the government's guidance to head teachers in England that they should consider merging classes to cope with a Covid staffing crisis.

In an email from the Department for Education, heads were also told they could resort to hybrid learning - with some classes taught remotely and some face-to-face.

The Daily Express says secondary schools have also been told to ramp up testing, with all pupils to take a lateral flow test in school before rejoining lessons after the Christmas break, as well as to carry on getting tested twice a week.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the government faces a backlash against its decision to require secondary school children to wear face masks. Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the decision was premature, given that the number of Covid cases fell on Sunday and the growth in hospital admissions has slowed. Former Conservative minister David Jones said masks could have a counterproductive effect on children's education.

A staffing crisis in the NHS, described as a potential "meltdown" leads the Daily Mirror. The paper says one in 10 NHS workers is either sick or self-isolating.

A consultant in north-west England has told the I newspaper the health service is "on the brink" of returning to providing urgent care only, as staff absences and hospital admissions continue to rise.

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Headlining with "Boris holding his nerve as NHS feels strain", the Daily Express says the prime minister is determined not to introduce more Covid restrictions in England, as officials believe Omicron data indicates they are not yet necessary. But he has asked ministers to test preparedness for the worst case scenario, which could involve the absence of 25% of the 5.6 million public sector workforce.

The Sun's front page highlights the case of an NHS nurse in Lincolnshire who spent 45 days in intensive care and was close to death after contracting Covid-19, before she was saved by Viagra. Monica Almeida, 37, was given the drug because she'd signed a document saying she was happy to be treated with experimental medicines. She says Viagra expanded her blood vessels and her lungs began to respond to treatment.

The Times has spoken to a veteran of the Grenadier Guards who is calling on Prince Andrew to step down from his role as colonel of the regiment. The Duke of York, who denies any wrongdoing, is facing calls to give up his military titles after the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell for child sex trafficking. Julian Perreira, a former lance sergeant who served in Afghanistan, said the duke's continued involvement would "stain" the regiment's history.

And finally, a report in the Telegraph says prostate cancer could be cured with a "game-changing" one-hour operation that uses electric currents to destroy the most difficult to reach tumours. More than 50,000 cases of the disease are detected every year. The treatments offered normally involve surgery to remove the prostate, and radiotherapy - both of which cause unpleasant side effects. The paper says the new therapy, offered on the NHS for the first time, is carried out much more quickly and less invasively.