Newspaper headlines: 'Living with Covid' plan and 5 day isolation support

The Times reports that NHS chiefs in England are increasingly upbeat that front-line services will hold, despite the wave of Covid infections caused by the Omicron variant.

According to the paper, NHS leaders believe most hospitals are getting through it without tipping into crisis, boosting ministers' confidence that further restrictions can be avoided.

The Metro also strikes an optimistic note. Under a headline: "Going Going Cron," it notes that new cases of coronavirus have now fallen for five days in a row.

The i suggests that Boris Johnson is working on a strategy to move away from restrictions, and could announce a "living with Covid" plan by March.

New measures could include reducing the isolation period and winding down testing.

However, the Daily Express quotes the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, Matthew Taylor, warning that the weeks ahead will be "some of the toughest" in the history of the health service.

The Express says at least 24 trusts have declared critical incidents because of staff shortages and rising numbers of Covid admissions - more of them older people.

The Daily Telegraph suggests that Chancellor Rishi Sunak is among a growing number of Cabinet ministers now backing calls to cut the quarantine period from seven to five days - to help reduce staffing shortages.

The Telegraph also reports that Health Secretary Sajid Javid has told the NHS to send cancer patients to private hospitals to prevent the surge in Omicron cases delaying urgent treatment.

Both the Express and the Daily Mail lead with a warning from senior Conservatives that Mr Johnson will be punished by voters unless he acts to tackle what they call the "cost of living crisis".

The Mail speaks of a "devastating squeeze" on living standards, driven by soaring energy bills, rampant inflation and controversial tax rises.

And as Housing Secretary Michael Gove prepares to unveil a £4bn package to enable leaseholders in England to escape the onerous costs involved in replacing combustible cladding, the Guardian leads with a message from campaigners that billions more will need to be spent to make homes in many blocks sellable.

Fire safety problems said not to be covered by the new plan include wooden balconies, defective fire doors and missing firebreaks.

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The main story in the Financial Times is a warning to Russia from the secretary-general of Nato that the alliance stands ready for conflict in Europe.

Ahead of a week of intense diplomacy aimed at averting a fresh Russian assault on Ukraine, Jens Stoltenberg tells the FT that Moscow must abandon its belligerence or face a Nato steeled for confrontation.

A senior police figure tells the Independent that preventing terror attacks in Britain is "more difficult than ever".

Dean Haydon, the senior national coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, says the main threat is now from people who live here and become "self-radicalised"; they can buy a kitchen knife and decide on an attack which is hard to see coming.

There is plentiful coverage of the plan to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee with a baking competition to create a new pudding fit for the Queen.

The Daily Mirror notes that recipes will be judged by a panel including Dame Mary Berry.

The Sun recalls that coronation chicken was devised when the Queen took the throne in 1952.

It hopes the new pud will also become a national treasure - in what is being dubbed "Bake Orf".