Newspaper headlines: Coronavirus 'action plan' and 'mass testing' in UK By BBC News

Staff Published duration 26 February

According to the Daily Telegraph, mass surveillance will be introduced as Britain ramps up its response to the growing threat of the new coronavirus.

It says thousands of Britons will be tested for coronavirus by GPs, amid fears that the explosion of cases in Europe means there could already be far more cases in this country than have been identified.

The Times says health authorities in the UK are drawing up plans to test hundreds more people with severe coughs and fevers in case they have the disease.

The Guardian highlights what it says was "growing confusion" in the UK after Health Secretary Matt Hancock and the chief medical officer for England expressed different advice for people intending to travel to northern Italy which has seen a large outbreak.

The paper says the Foreign Office clarified the guidance last night advising against all but essential travel to 11 towns in the region.

The Guardian also paints a picture of life in Milan, which has come to a virtual standstill after the outbreak in the wider Lombardy region. It says Italy's frenetic capital of finance and fashion is now devoid of life.

image copyright Getty Images image caption Hundreds of tourists are trapped in a hotel in Tenerife after a guest tested positive for the virus

Under the headline "Virus Panic Hits Schools", the Daily Mail says staff and pupils at 18 schools were sent home on Tuesday amid fears they may have picked up the coronavirus during ski trips to Italy.

"Lockdown" is the headline in the Daily Mirror, which carries a photograph of the hotel in Tenerife where British tourists are among about 1,000 holidaymakers who have been told to stay in their rooms because of an outbreak of coronavirus.

The Financial Times reports that the impact of the virus and low growth forecasts have prompted the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to delay some of the government's key economic decisions until the autumn.

It says the budget next month will scrap a cut in corporation tax but proposals to raise taxes on high-end properties, curb pension tax relief and raise fuel duty are likely to be considered later in the year.

The government will consider whether to reduce the size of the Army, according to the Times, in a major review of foreign and defence policy

The paper says the review - due to be announced by the prime minister later - will be concluded by the end of the autumn.

The Telegraph suggests that defence spending overall could increase over the next five years. It says the review will look at how and where the Ministry of Defence spends money - an area much criticised by Boris Johnson's chief advisor, Dominic Cummings.

There are calls for the former Labour deputy leader, Tom Watson, to be barred from taking a peerage after his allegations of a Westminster paedophile ring were dismissed by the independent sex abuse inquiry.

The Sun accuses the former MP of promoting a "baseless conspiracy theory"

image copyright EPA image caption The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier is preparing for future trade talks with the UK

A number of papers take the opportunity to review the EU's negotiating mandate ahead of talks on a new trade deal with the UK.

According to the Daily Mail, the process has already got off to an acrimonious start with the EU's demands already being rebuffed by Downing Street . In particular, it says Brussels requirement for access to UK fishing waters could sink a potential deal.

The Financial Times says the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has been irked by what he sees as the prime minister's backsliding just days before the talks begin. It says his frustration reflects concerns in Brussels that the two sides are heading in different directions.

And finally, new research has revealed what many of us always thought - that owners of the more expensive vehicles often make for less considerate drivers.

According to one US study - revealed in the Times - those behind the wheel of pricier models are less likely to stop at a zebra crossing

And academics in Helsinki found a correlation between personality types, cars and wealth.