Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom (July–December 2022)

The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom from July 2022 to present.

There are significant differences in the legislation and the reporting between the countries of the UK: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. The numbers of cases and deaths are reported on a government Web site updated daily during the pandemic.[1] The UK-wide COVID Symptom Study based on surveys of four million participants, endorsed by authorities in Scotland and Wales, run by health science company ZOE, and analysed by King's College London researchers,[2] publishes daily estimates of the number of new and total current COVID-19 infections (excluding care homes) in UK regions, without restriction to only laboratory-confirmed cases.[3]

Events

July 2022
  • 1 July – Office for National Statistics data suggests COVID-19 cases in the UK are rising again, with 2.3 million people infected with the virus, around one in 30, in the week ending 24 June. The statistics show a 32% rise on the previous week, with the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants thought to be responsible for the rise.[4]
  • 3 July – Dame Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, warns that hospitalisations as a result of COVID-19 are likely to rise along with infections, and says people should "go about their normal lives" but in a "precautionary way".[5]
  • 8 July –
    • The latest Office for National Statistics data for the week ending 1 July suggests 2.7 million people, or one in 25, were infected with COVID-19 as the number of cases continue to rise.[6]
    • Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and deputy Angela Rayner are cleared of breaking lockdown rules over a Durham "beergate" meeting.[7]
  • 13 July – The number of confirmed deaths from the virus is reported to have exceeded 200,000. Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 are now the dominant subvariants.[8]
  • 14 July – Data collected from 17,500 people who tested positive for COVID-19 over the preceding week indicates a sore throat to be the top symptom with other common reported symptoms being headache, blocked nose and cough.[9]
  • 15 July –
    • The latest Office for National Statistics data for the week ending 8 July indicates 3.5 million people, roughly one in 18, were infected with COVID-19 in that week, up from one in 25, or 2.7 million, the previous week.[10]
    • The vaccine booster programme scheduled for the coming autumn is extended to cover all adults over 50, along with younger people considered to be vulnerable and health and social care workers.[11]
  • 21 July – The UK public inquiry launches with chair Baroness Hallett promising a robust look into the UK's handling of the pandemic and whether more could have been done.[12]
  • 22 July – The latest Office for National Statistics data for the week ending 15 July shows 3.8 million COVID-19 infections in the UK, a rise of 7% on the previous week. The ONS figures show a slow in the growth of cases while data from other sources, such as the government's COVID-19 Dashboard, suggest the latest wave has already reached its peak.[13]
  • 27 July – Progress towards a pan coronavirus vaccine is announced by the Francis Crick Institute in London, following tests on mice. Antibodies targeting the S2 subunit of SARS-CoV-2's spike protein are found to neutralise multiple coronavirus variants.[14][15]
  • 28 July – The media watchdog Ofcom is to launch an investigation into UK news channel GB News after presenter Mark Steyn made misleading claims about COVID-19 booster vaccines on the 21 April edition of his show. Steyn had alleged that British people were being killed by having the booster and that there was a media silence on the issue.[16]
  • 29 July – Office for National Statistics data for the week up to 20 July indicates 3.2 million people in the UK were infected with COVID-19, a fall from 3.8 million the previous week and suggesting cases in the latest wave have peaked.[17]

August 2022
  • 2 August –
    • BBC News reports that more than 16,000 businesses that took out government-backed loans designed to support them during the COVID-19 pandemic have since gone bust without paying the money back.[18]
    • Figures produced by the Night Time Industries Association, a body representing nightclubs in the UK, indicates a 20% decrease in the number of nightclubs since March 2020. There were 1,418 nightclubs in England, Scotland and Wales in March 2020 compared to 1,130 in the latest figures.[19]
  • 3 August – Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK Government's Chief Scientific Adviser who steered the UK through the COVID-19 pandemic, announces he will step down from the role in April 2023.[20]
  • 5 August – The latest Office for National Statistics data shows another drop in the number of people in the UK with COVID-19, with 2.6 million cases in the week up to 26 July, a fall of over half a million from 3.2 million the previous week.[21]
  • 6 August – The 2022 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo begins. Titled "Voices" it is the first to be held since the pandemic.[22]
  • 9 August –
    • Figures published by NHS England indicate the number of people in England waiting more than two years for routine surgery has fallen from 22,500 at the start of 2022, to less than 200.[23]
    • The 2022 Scottish Higher exam results are published, the first public examinations sat by Scottish pupils since 2019. They show a 78.9% pass rate, lower than the two preceding years when exams were cancelled because of the pandemic, but higher than the 74.8% from 2019, the last year formal examinations took place.[24]
  • 14 August – The Crown Prosecution Service confirms that six people who were charged with breaching lockdown rules after attending demonstrations in the wake of the March 2021 murder of Sarah Everard will not be prosecuted.[25]
  • 15 August – The UK becomes the first country to approve an updated Moderna vaccine that offers protection against the original COVID-19 virus, as well as the Omicron variant.[26]
  • 18 August –
    • The first post-COVID A Level results are published in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with the number of students receiving A* grades lower than in 2021, but higher than in 2019 when the last public examinations were sat; 36.4% of A Levels were marked at A* and A in 2022, compared with 44.8% in 2021.[27]
    • Ahead of a trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court, Margaret Ferrier, the MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, pleads guilty to breaching COVID-19 rules after travelling by train following a positive COVID test in September 2020.[28]
  • 19 August – The latest Office for National Statistics data, covering the first week of August, indicates that 1.7 million people had COVID-19, or one in 40.[29]
  • 24 August – The UK government announces that most hospital patients and care home residents in England will no longer be required to take COVID-19 tests, although new admissions into both will continue to be tested. Free lateral flow tests for health and social care staff will also end from 31 August.[30]
  • 25 August –
    • Conservative Party leadership candidate and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak says the UK government gave too much power to scientists during the pandemic, and was not honest about the potential consequences of lockdown.[31]
    • The first post-pandemic GCSE results are published, and highlight a difference in performance between the regions, with a third of exam results in London being top grades, while the number is a fifth in the north of England.[32]
    • Former Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis delivers the prestigious MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival in which she claims the BBC went out of its way to "pacify" Downing Street after she said it was clear Dominic Cummings had breached lockdown rules in 2020. Her comments are rejected by BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore.[33]
  • 28 August – The Notting Hill Carnival is held for the first time since the pandemic, the events for 2020 and 2021 having been held online.[34]
  • 30 August –
    • Recently appointed hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) tsar Madelaine McTernan returns to her role of overseeing vaccines ahead of the planned autumn COVID-19 booster programme.[35]
    • Eurostar announces it is to suspend train services between London and Disneyland Paris from 5 June 2023 to concentrate on its core routes as it continues to recover from the effects of the pandemic.[36]

September 2022
  • 1 September –
    • The UK COVID-19 public inquiry begins to examine decisions made by the Johnson Government at the start of the pandemic in 2020.[37]
    • The UK's health agencies have clarified that the advice for pregnant and breastfeeding women regarding the vaccine has not changed after false information appeared on social media claiming that they were now being advised not to have the vaccine.[38]
  • 5 September – The deployment of the Autumn 2022 COVID-19 booster programme begins in England, with care home residents and people who are housebound the first to be offered the vaccine.[39]
  • 12 September – Data released by the Office for National Statistics indicates cases of COVID-19 are at their lowest since October 2021, with fewer than a million people (roughly one in 70) with the virus in the last week of August.[40]
  • 13 September – Margaret Ferrier, the MP who travelled by train from London to Scotland after receiving a positive COVID test in September 2020, is given 270 hours of community service after previously pleading guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to culpably and recklessly exposing the public to the virus.[41]
  • 23 September – Office for National Statistics data for the week up to 14 September indicates the first rise in COVID-19 infections since mid-July, with one in 70 people having the virus and the largest increase among secondary school students.[42]
  • 24 September – An article in The Times quotes scientists who suggests the Omicron variant could be "the last Covid-19 variant we have to battle" since it has lasted longer than any previous variant, and the coronavirus may therefore be settling down.[43]

October 2022
  • 4 October – The first preliminary hearing of the COVID-19 inquiry is held. Chair Baroness Hallett says those who have suffered will be at the inquiry's heart.[44]
  • 5 October – Campaigners have criticised First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford for being insensitive after he said those wishing to have a separate COVID-19 inquiry for Wales have "moved on". In response the Welsh Government says Drakeford was referring to the group having "shifted their focus", and that a UK-wide inquiry can better for examining decisions made by the four nations of the UK.[45]
  • 7 October – The latest Office for National Statistics data suggests around 1.3 million people (or one in 50) are infected with COVID-19, with a high prevalence of those cases in those aged over 70. The news prompts health experts to urge people to avoid vulnerable friends, relatives and colleagues as a precaution.[46]
  • 10 October – The 2022 BAFTA Cymru Awards Ceremony is held in Cardiff, the first to take place in-person since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.[47]
  • 11 October – The Celtic Connections Festival returns for the first time since January 2020, having been postponed and run as an online event due to the pandemic.[48]
  • 13 October – The latest health figures show that hospital waiting lists in England have reached seven million, their highest since records began.[49]
  • 14 October –
    • The latest COVID-19 data from the Office for National Statistics suggests 1.7 million people (roughly 2.7% of the population or one in 37) is infected with COVID-19, a rise from the previous week when the figure was one in 50.[50]
    • Ofcom announces an investigation into GB News over its coverage of matters relating to COVID-19 vaccination following an interview with the author Naomi Wolf that aired on 4 October, and during which she claimed women were being harmed by COVID-19 vaccines as part of an effort "to destroy British civil society", while likening the behaviour of the medical profession to that of Nazi Germany. Ofcom's investigation will cover whether the interview broke "rules designed to protect viewers from harmful material", and is the second such investigation into the news channel.[51]
  • 18 October – NHS England warns that up to half of its hospital beds could be taken up with patients suffering respiratory problems because of a "twindemic" of COVID-19 and flu over the coming winter.[52]
  • 28 October – Office for National Statistics data for the week ending 17 October indicates around two million COVID-19 infections in the UK, roughly one in 30 people with the virus. These figures are relatively similar to those for the previous week.[53]
  • 31 October – The COVID-19 public inquiry has asked to see former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's WhatsApp messages from his time as prime minister as part of its investigation into decision making.[54]

See also

References
  1. "Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the UK". UK government COVID-19 Web site.
  2. "About this Research". ZOE. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  3. "COVID Symptom Study". ZOE. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  4. "Covid infections jump by half a million in UK, says ONS". BBC News. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  5. "Covid: UK hospital cases set to rise, says health chief". BBC News. 3 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  6. "Covid infections hit 2.7 million in UK". BBC News. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  7. "Sir Keir Starmer cleared by police over Durham lockdown beers". BBC News. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  8. "COVID-19: UK deaths pass 200,000, ONS says". 13 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022 – via Sky News.
  9. "Covid: Sore throat now top symptom that could be the virus". BBC News. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  10. "One in 18 has Covid in the UK". BBC News. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  11. "Covid booster: Will be offered to all over 50s this autumn". BBC News. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  12. "Covid inquiry: Lessons will be learned before next pandemic". BBC News. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
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  14. "UK scientists take 'promising' step towards single Covid and cold vaccine". The Guardian. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  15. "Promising developments in pursuit to design pan-coronavirus vaccine". Francis Crick Institute. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  16. "GB News faces Ofcom investigation over host's Covid booster claims". the Guardian. 28 July 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  17. "Covid infections on the way down again across the UK". BBC News. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  18. "Thousands of small firms go bust owing millions in bounce back Covid loans". BBC News. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  19. "Nightclubs closing: One in five have shut since Covid-19 pandemic began". BBC News. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  20. "Patrick Vallance: One of government's chief Covid advisers is stepping down". BBC News. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
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  22. "Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo back with a bang after three years". 6 August 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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  29. "Covid infections in UK continue to fall". 19 August 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  30. "NHS and care homes in England to pause routine Covid testing". 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  31. "Experts had too much power over Covid lockdowns, says Rishi Sunak". 25 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  32. "GCSE results: Grades show growing regional divide in England". 25 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  33. "BBC says 'in no way' did government prompt it to censure Emily Maitlis". the Guardian. 25 August 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  34. "Music, food and excitement as Carnival returns". Retrieved 28 August 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  35. "HRT tsar returns to role overseeing Covid boosters". 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  36. "Eurostar to suspend direct trains to Disneyland Paris". 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  37. "Covid inquiry starts to examine Boris Johnson's pandemic decisions". 31 August 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  38. "Covid: Pregnant women targeted with false vaccine claims". 1 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  39. "Covid booster rollout to start in early September in England". 18 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  40. "UK Covid infections lowest since last October". 12 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  41. "Margaret Ferrier: MP who exposed public to Covid must do unpaid work". 13 September 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  42. "Covid: First rise in infections in UK since July". 23 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  43. "Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 24 September 2022". The Week UK. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  44. "Loss and suffering at heart of Covid inquiry". 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  45. "Covid inquiry: Mark Drakeford accused of 'shameful' remarks". 4 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  46. "Covid: Protect elderly from rising virus levels in UK". 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  47. "Bafta Cymru: In My Skin takes three awards". 9 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  48. "Celtic Connections festival aims to return with full programme". 11 October 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  49. "Fewer ops being done as NHS waiting list hits seven million". 13 October 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  50. "Covid cases rise as one in 37 has virus in UK". 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  51. "GB News faces second Ofcom inquiry into Covid vaccine coverage". the Guardian. 12 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  52. "Respiratory illness may take up half of NHS beds this winter". 18 October 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  53. "Concern over flu and winter viruses but Covid levels unchanged". 28 October 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  54. "Covid: Boris Johnson WhatsApp messages requested by inquiry". 31 October 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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