Many of the front pages focus on the changes to self-isolation rules, after days of coverage about the impact of staff shortages on businesses.

Supermarket delivery drivers will be among those exempt from isolating if they test negative for Covid every day, the i reports. The paper notes there will also be exemptions for some critical workers in sectors including food production, essential transport and emergency services.

The Daily Express says daily testing will end the so-called "pingdemic crisis", which it says is bringing the country to "a standstill". Up to a million employees are estimated to be off work isolating after being alerted by the NHS Covid app, the paper claims.

The Times says it represents a "retreat" by the government, after the prime minister said only a "very small" number of people would be allowed to avoid self-isolating.

The Daily Mail carries calls from business leaders to exempt more employees from isolating if they are fully vaccinated. As the paper's front page story words it, "they speak for hospitality, retail, food supplies, manufacturing and transport - the foundations of the economy".

As we've been hearing, the number of alerts sent by the NHS Covid-19 app, available to people in England and Wales, has been rising due to a surge of infections.

In the second week of July, 618,903 alerts were sent to people in England and Wales - up 17% on the previous week.

If you spend enough time close to another person using it, you will receive a "ping" alert if they test positive for Covid. You need to be 2m (6ft) from them for 15 minutes to trigger a message.

If you are "pinged" you're advised - but not legally obliged - to self-isolate until 10 days have passed since your contact with them.

However, as we've reported, the government has announced exemptions to the isolation rules for supermarket depot workers and food manufacturers, following what has been described as a "pingdemic". A separate exemption scheme will cover some other key workers who are fully jabbed.

You can read more about the NHS Covid 19 app and how it works here.

Katie Falkingham
BBC Sport

Image source, Reuters

The Tokyo Olympic Games are upon us. They look and feel different to any other Games of times gone by, but they are here. At last.

When the Games were postponed in March 2020, organisers said the Olympic flame "could become the light at the end of the tunnel". With the Covid-19 pandemic still raging worldwide, that metaphorical tunnel is still being traversed, but Friday's evening's opening ceremony -midday in the UK - offers a glimmer of that light.

With Tokyo in a state of emergency after a spike in Covid infections, the Games have come under huge criticism from the Japanese public - the majority of whom have said they want the Olympics to be cancelled or postponed again.

But safety is paramount for the organisers, and huge precautions are being taken, including holding the Games behind closed doors with no fans, from either Japan or overseas, being permitted inside venues.

As for the athletes, they are under tight restrictions too. They must wear a face mask at all times - except when eating, drinking, training, competing or sleeping, while also minimising physical interaction with others, and being tested every day.

Read more.

Image source, Getty Images

We've been bringing you the news this morning about the exemptions from isolation introduced for food industry and key workers in England and Wales.

A separate scheme is also being launched by the Scottish government for critical staff and services.

Workers will have to meet certain criteria to be allowed to avoid staying at home and safeguards will be put in place such as a testing regime.

Ministers at Holyrood are yet to give full details - but it is understood people working in a range of sectors including health and social care could avoid isolation. Supermarket workers and some airline staff could also be exempt.

Colin Smith, chief executive of the Scottish Wholesale Association, said his members were "critical" to keeping the shops supplied and should also be on the exemption list.

He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland: "There is no point in giving support to the producers and manufacturers if you can't have the wheels delivering those goods."

Read more about the plans here.

As well as the exemption for supermarket depot workers and food manufacturers, the government is introducing a limited scheme to enable other key workers to avoid self-isolation after contact with Covid.

It covers sectors including transport, emergency services, border control, energy, digital infrastructure, waste, the water industry, essential defence outputs and local government - but only applies to staff who have been double vaccinated and are named on a list.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Environment Secretary describes it as a "narrow exemption for those named individuals performing certain key tasks", and he promises that government departments will be able to process the lists quickly.

When asked a few minutes later on BBC Radio 4 to respond to criticism that the second scheme is unworkable, Eustice says: "We've gone for quite a generous intervention for the food supply chain where they won't have to provide names, they won't have to provide job roles or any of that, it'll simply be testing on site and those people continue to work.

"In these other sectors, we are trying to target this at a smaller number of people... What that is likely to involve is having a list of the key functions, the key roles, and then an expedited process that probably people will just submit the names that they need under that."

Image source, Getty Images

The food industry needs "urgent clarity" about how the new policy allowing some workers to be exempt from quarantine rules will work in practice, one representative says.

Shane Brennan, head of the Cold Chain Federation, which represents firms in the temperature control supply chain, tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that businesses are "very confused" about how it will work, and that "many more" need help in the next few weeks.

"They're struggling right now, more and more people are leaving the work force and that's causing real pressure," he says.

"So if these changes are going to happen, they need to happen right now or else businesses are going to go into the weekend very concerned about how they're going to be able to maintain their systems and their supplies."

Ian Wright, head of the Food and Drink Federation, tells Times Radio that the change of policy is important because concerns that supply issues could get worse are "beginning to grow quite fast".

He points out that the move comes around three weeks before close contacts who are double-jabbed will not have to isolate in England, a policy that will kick in from 16 August.

Mr Wright says he is "mystified" about why the government is not bringing this date forward.

"I think it would be useful to know on exactly which grounds the hiatus is justified," he says.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Getty Images

People should continue wearing face masks and avoid poorly-ventilated indoor settings to stop the "pingdemic", a leading scientist says.

Sir Jeremy Farrar was asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme about the record number of people in England and Wales being told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid-19 app.

"The way to prevent the so-called pingdemic is to drive down transmission," says Sir Jeremy, director of the Wellcome Trust and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), which advises ministers.

"If we have lower transmission in this country - by continuing to wear masks and avoiding poorly-ventilated indoor settings as much as we can, until as much of the population is vaccinated as possible - that will drive down transmission and also help reduce the number of people having to isolate."

He adds that "we've moved on from lockdowns... but there are things we can still do".

There's been lots of reaction from the food industry over the decision to allow some key workers to avoid isolation rules.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said it was vital that the government rolled out its scheme as fast as possible, and that it was prepared to take further action if necessary.

Hannah Essex, co-executive director of the British Chambers of Commerce, said the move would be a relief to some businesses, but "many more" would still face "critical staff shortages and lost revenue" because of staff being advised to self-isolate.

CBI director general Tony Danker agreed. He said many businesses were still "at risk of grinding to a halt in the next few weeks", warning: "The current approach to self-isolation is closing down the economy, rather than opening it up."

And Phil Langslow, trading director at Cheshire-based County Milk Products, which provides dairy products to the likes of Nestle and Kellogg's, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that roughly half of deliveries were "not being done routinely" because of the issue.

He said the government announcement was "a step in the right direction".

BBC Breakfast

The self-isolation exemption designed to prevent food supply problems will only apply to supermarket depot workers and manufacturers, the environment secretary says - because it is important to keep the test and trace system in place as Covid cases surge.

As we've reported, the government has said food workers, regardless of vaccination status, can do daily testing instead of isolating, amid concerns over food availability as staff are forced to take time off when "pinged" by the NHS Covid app.

George Eustice tells BBC Breakfast that allowing supermarket store staff to also take part would involve thousands of different shops and many more people, and would be a "significant undertaking".

But he says the system will be kept "constantly under review".

He adds: "We know what we are doing, frustrating and difficult as it is for everyone across the economy, it does serve a function in terms of dampening the spread of the virus.

"However, we know the most important thing is to make sure that those main arteries in our food supply-chain keep working, that the lorries keep going from depots to get goods to stores, and the food manufacturers can continue to manufacture the goods.

"When you get to store level, of course, yes, there will be some difficulties, they will have staff shortages. But it is easier to manage at that level."

Image source, Getty Images

There's been a lot in the news about the "pingdemic" recently, with a record 618,903 people being told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid app between 8 and 15 July in England and Wales.

Supermarkets warned that the supply of some products was being affected, with staff being kept away from work.

The government has now changed the rules so that depot workers and food manufacturers will be exempt from quarantine - regardless of whether or not they've been jabbed - and can do daily testing instead of isolating.

The new daily contact testing measures are beginning at 15 supermarket depots, followed by 150 depots next week - but they will not apply to supermarket store staff.

Separately, the government outlined plans to let other key industries in England use daily testing instead of self-isolation for a limited number of essential workers - but only those who are fully vaccinated.

This scheme covers sectors including transport, emergency services, border control, energy, digital infrastructure, waste, the water industry, essential defence outputs and local government.

But it only applies to workers named on a list - and is not a blanket exemption for all employees in a sector.

• The Tokyo Olympics start later after a year-long delay because of the pandemic - but the Games will be held behind closed doors, with no fans from either Japan or overseas allowed inside venues.
• Italy is introducing a mandatory Covid vaccination certificate from 6 August, allowing those aged 12 and over who have received at least one jab to access a range of venues like indoor restaurants and gyms.
• China has rejected the next stage of a World Health Organization plan to investigate the origins of the pandemic.
• A Covid-positive Indonesian man who disguised himself as his wife to board a domestic flight has been caught mid-air carrying her passport and negative test result.

Image source, Getty Images

Daily lateral flow testing for students exposed to Covid may be equally effective as isolating “bubbles” to control transmission of the virus in schools, a study has found.

Daily testing could reduce school absences by up to 39%, the Oxford University researchers said.

The study at 200 secondary schools and colleges in England, between April and June 2021, found less than 2% of children exposed to Covid in schools who were tested ended up infected.

Any requirement for children and adults to self-isolate as close contacts will be removed in England from mid-August, as already announced by the government.

But researchers said their findings would make encouraging reading for parents and teachers.

Prof Tim Peto from Oxford University said the research helped scientists understand an "awful lot about the way this is transmitted".

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he added: "What we learn from schools I think could be applied with care but properly to workplace settings."

Read more about the study here.

Here's what you need to know over breakfast:

• Supermarket depot workers and food manufacturers will be exempt from quarantine rules, doing daily Covid testing instead of isolating as the government tries to prevent food supply problems.
• Separately, ministers have outlined plans to allow other key industries in England to deploy daily testing instead of self-isolation for a limited number of essential workers. In this case, the scheme will only apply to workers who are fully vaccinated.
• A study suggests that pupils who are close contacts of someone who tests positive could do daily rapid testing as a safe alternative to home isolation, which could reduce absences by up to 39%.
• Different researches have found that a longer gap between doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine makes the body's immune system produce more infection-fighting antibodies - with an eight-week gap seen as best for tackling the Delta variant.
• Parents are being advised to look out for the signs of a common childhood respiratory illness, RSV, cases of which appear to be rising rapidly after social distancing and lockdowns kept it at bay earlier in the colder months.
• The government says it won't search the private email account of former Health Secretary Matt Hancock for discussions on official business, after the Sunday Times reported that it does not have a record of much of his decision-making during the pandemic.

Welcome to today's live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

We'll be bringing you the latest updates from the UK and around the world. Stay tuned.