COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom | |
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Disease | COVID-19 |
Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
Location | United Kingdom |
First outbreak | Wuhan, Hubei, China |
Index case | York, North Yorkshire |
Arrival date | 31 January 2020(4 years, 6 months, 2 weeks and 4 days ago)[1] |
Date | As of 6 January 2022[update] |
Confirmed cases | 24,974,629[2] (total)[3][nb 1] |
Hospitalised cases | |
Ventilator cases | 911 (active)[3] |
Deaths | |
Fatality rate | 2.88%
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Vaccinations | |
Government website | |
UK Government[nb 4] Scottish Government Welsh Government Northern Ireland Department of Health |
Part of a series on the |
COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies |
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(Part of the global COVID-19 pandemic) |
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in[until when?] 24,974,629[2] confirmed cases, and is associated with 232,112[2] deaths.
The virus began circulating in the country in early 2020, arriving primarily from travel elsewhere in Europe.[6] Various sectors responded, with more widespread public health measures incrementally introduced from March 2020. The first wave was at the time one of the world's largest outbreaks. By mid-April the peak had been passed and restrictions were gradually eased. A second wave, with a new variant that originated in the UK becoming dominant, began in the autumn and peaked in mid-January 2021, and was deadlier than the first. The UK started a COVID-19 vaccination programme in early December 2020. Generalised restrictions were gradually lifted and were mostly ended by August 2021. A third wave, fuelled by the new Delta variant, began in July 2021, but the rate of deaths and hospitalisations was lower than with the first two waves – this being attributed to the mass vaccination programme. By early December 2021, the Omicron variant had arrived, and caused record infection levels.
The UK government and each of the three devolved governments (in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales) introduced public health and economic measures, including new laws, to mitigate its impact. A national lockdown was introduced on 23 March 2020 and lifted in May, replaced with specific regional restrictions. Further nationwide restrictions were introduced later in 2020 in response to a surge in cases. Most restrictions were lifted during the Delta-variant-driven third wave in mid-2021. The "winter plan" reintroduced some rules in response to the Omicron variant in December 2021, and all restrictions were lifted in February and March 2022 as the Omicron wave continued.
Economic support was given to struggling businesses, including a furlough scheme for employees. As well as the major strain on the UK's healthcare service, the pandemic has had a severe impact on the UK's economy, caused major disruptions to education and had far-reaching impacts on society and politics.
Case fatality is not comparable across variants as they have peaked at different points in the pandemic, and so vary in background hospital pressure, vaccination availability and rates and case profiles, treatment options, and impact of reporting delay, among other factors
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