The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in England from January 2020 to June 2020. There are significant differences in the legislation and the reporting between the countries of the UK: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.
Timeline January 2020 31 January – The first two cases of coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the United Kingdom are confirmed.
February 2020 6 February – A third case of coronavirus is confirmed in the UK. 10 February – The total number of cases in the UK reaches eight as four further cases are confirmed in people linked to an affected man from Brighton. 11 February – A ninth case is confirmed in London. 23 February – The DHSC confirms a total of 13 cases in the UK as four new cases in passengers on the cruise ship Diamond Princess are detected. They are transferred to hospitals in the UK. 28 February – The first British death from the disease is confirmed by the Japanese Health Ministry; a man quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. 29 February - The BBC reports the first case of a man in Surrey to be infected with COVID-19 whilst in the UK who had not recently travelled abroad.
March 2020 5 March – The first death from coronavirus in the UK is confirmed, as the number of cases exceeds 100, with a total of 115 having tested positive. England's Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty, tells MPs that the UK has now moved to the second stage of dealing with COVID-19 – from "containment" to the "delay" phase. 8 March – A third death from coronavirus is reported, at North Manchester General Hospital, as the number of cases in the UK reaches 273, the largest single-day increase so far. Manchester United played against Manchester City at Old Trafford with 73,288 spectators. The match was later estimated to have caused 27 additional COVID deaths. 10-13 March - Cheltenham Festival begins its multiple day event with more than 250,000 attending. The event ended on 13 March. Many blame the event for spreading COVID-19 and the BBC reports "Gloucestershire County Council says any investigation should be led at a national level". The event was estimated to have caused 37 additional COVID deaths, while several of the sporting events also caused thousands of infections. 11 March – The Bank of England cuts its baseline interest rate from 0.75% to 0.25%, back down to the lowest level in history. The Liverpool FC vs. Atletico Madrid football match was played at Anfield with 3,000 Madrid fans among the 52,000 spectators, some of whom visited bars after the match. The match was later estimated to have added 41 deaths by COVID-19. 12 March – Public Health England stops performing contact tracing, as widespread infections overwhelm capacity. 13 March – The Premier League 2019–2020 season is suspended, amid a growing list of worldwide sporting cancellations and postponements due to COVID-19. Elections including the English local elections, London mayoral election and police and crime commissioner elections, scheduled for May 2020, are postponed for a year because of the coronavirus. 17 March – NHS England announces that from 15 April all non-urgent operations in England will be postponed, to free up 30,000 beds to help tackle the virus. 20 March – Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow declares a "critical incident" due to a surge in patients with coronavirus. Prime Minister Boris Johnson orders all cafes, pubs and restaurants to close from the evening of 20 March, except for take-away food, to tackle coronavirus. All the UK's nightclubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms and leisure centres are told to close "as soon as they reasonably can". 21 March – The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Business Closure) (England) Regulations 2020 (SI 327) come into legal effect at 2pm, enforcing the closure in England of businesses selling food and drink for consumption on the premises, as well as a range of other businesses such as nightclubs and indoor leisure centres where a high risk of infection could be expected. NHS England negotiates a cost-price "block booking" of almost all services and facilities at the country's private hospitals, involving around 8,000 hospital beds, nearly 1,200 ventilators, and more than 10,000 nurses. 22 March – Boris Johnson warns that "tougher measures" may be introduced if people do not follow government advice on social distancing. 23 March – In a televised address, Boris Johnson announces a UK-wide partial lockdown, to contain the spread of the virus. The British public are instructed that they must stay at home, except for certain "very limited purposes" – shopping for basic necessities; for "one form of exercise a day"; for any medical need; and to travel to and from work when "absolutely necessary". However, when these restrictions came into force on 26 March, the statutory instrument for England omitted any limit on the number of exercise sessions. A number of other restrictions are imposed, with police given powers to enforce the measures, including the use of fines. Pride in London, the UK's largest LGBT Pride festival, scheduled for 27 June, is the latest event to be postponed. It is one of a hundred pride events to be postponed or cancelled in the UK. 24 March – Health Secretary Matt Hancock announces the government will open a temporary hospital, the NHS Nightingale Hospital at the ExCeL London, to add extra critical care capacity in response to coronavirus pandemic. The Church of England closes all its buildings. 25 March – The police will be given the power to use "reasonable force" to enforce the lockdown regulations. Routine dental care is suspended in England. 26 March – The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 (SI 350) (the 'Lockdown Regulations') come into effect, significantly extending the range of businesses that are required by law to close with immediate effect including all retail businesses not on an approved list. These regulations also include significant restrictions on freedom of movement: "no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse".The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/350). Accessed: 18 July 2020). The 2020 Isle of Wight and Download music festivals, scheduled for June, are cancelled. The organisers of the Download festival subsequently announce plans to hold a virtual festival to be held on the dates it would have happened, and featuring streamed performances and interviews.
April 2020 2 April – Matt Hancock sets a target of carrying out 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month (encompassing both swab tests and blood tests). 3 April – NHS Nightingale Hospital London, the first temporary hospital to treat coronavirus patients, opens at the ExCel centre in East London, employing NHS staff and military personnel, with 500 beds and potential capacity for 4,000. It is the first of several such facilities planned across the UK. 5 April – Manchester City football club begins a disciplinary procedure against Kyle Walker after it was reported that he broke lockdown rules by inviting two sex workers to his home. 10 April – Jonathan Van-Tam, England's deputy chief medical officer, tells the UK Government's daily briefing the lockdown is "beginning to pay off" but the UK is still in a "dangerous situation", and although cases in London have started to drop they are still rising in Yorkshire and the North East. Beginning today, England's Care Quality Commission requires care homes to state in daily death notifications whether the death was a result of confirmed or suspected COVID-19. The CQC has not previously published statistics; the data will in future be included in weekly reports from the Office of National Statistics. 11 April – The number of people in London hospitals for COVID-19 reaches its peak, according to week-on-week change data; elsewhere in the country, patient numbers continue to increase, although the rate of increase is slowing. Occupancy of critical care beds in England peaks at around 58% of capacity. Occupancy in the month of April for Scotland and Wales will only briefly exceed 40%, while Northern Ireland reported a peak of 51% early in the month. 15 April – Health Secretary Matt Hancock announces new guidelines that will allow close family members to see dying relatives in order to say goodbye to them. Hancock also launches a new network to provide personal protective equipment to care home staff. NHS England and the Care Quality Commission begin rolling out tests for care home staff and residents as it is reported the number of care home deaths are rising but that official figures, which rely on death certificates, are not reflecting the full extent of the problem. Helen Whately, the Minister for Social Care, says that the government are aware the figures are being understated. 16 April – The NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham, at the National Exhibition Centre, is officially opened by Prince William. 17 April – Matt Hancock confirms coronavirus tests will be rolled out to cover more public service staff such as police officers, firefighters and prison staff. Later analysis of death registrations (all causes) in England and Wales by the Office for National Statistics finds the highest total this week, which at 21,805 is 207% of the five-year average for the same week. COVID-19 is mentioned in 8,730 cases. 20 April – To protect bus drivers, Transport for London puts buses' front doors out of use, requiring passengers to board through the middle doors. Passengers are no longer required to pay, so that they do not need to use the card reader near the driver. Prof Dame Angela Maclean, the UK's deputy chief scientific adviser, says the number of confirmed cases is "flattening out". The number of people in hospital for COVID-19 has begun to fall in Scotland, Wales and every region of England, with significant falls in London and the Midlands. 22 April – The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (SI 447) come into effect, correcting errors in the original lockdown regulations and allowing some visits to burial grounds and gardens of remembrance. 23 April – A study involving 20,000 households in England, coordinated by the Office for National Statistics, will track the progress of COVID-19 and seek to better understand infection and immunity levels, with volunteers asked to provide nose and throat swabs on a regular basis to determine whether they have the virus. Matt Hancock states that daily test capacity has reached 51,000, and announces that all key workers and members of their households are now eligible for COVID-19 tests and will be able to book tests through the government website from the following day. Tests will be conducted at drive-through centres or using home testing kits, while mobile testing units operated by the armed forces would increase in number from the present eight to 92, with a further four operated by civilians in Northern Ireland. Hancock also announces preparations to reactivate contact tracing in a later phase of the outbreak, including the recruitment of 18,000 contact tracers to greatly supplement Public Health England's staff. 28 April – Testing capacity reaches 73,000 per day, although only 43,000 were carried out the previous day. Matt Hancock announces that testing will be expanded from the following day to include all care home workers, and people (and their family members) with symptoms who must leave home for their job or are aged over 65.
May 2020 1 May – Matt Hancock confirms the government's target of providing (but not necessarily completing) 100,000 tests a day by the end of April has been met, with 122,347 provided over the previous 24 hours. 2 May – Some recycling centres, including those in Greater Manchester, begin to reopen after six weeks.