The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom from July 2020 to December 2020.
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. 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, 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.
Timeline July 2020 1 July Over two days, 12,000 job losses have been announced in the retail and aviation industry as a result of the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Conservative MP Giles Watling warns of the impact on theatres if they have to cancel the pantomime season; his comments come after several theatres announced plans to cancel pantomimes over the coming winter season.
2 July Casual Dining Group, the owner of Café Rouge and Bella Italia, goes into administration with the loss of 1,900 of the 6,000 staff employed by the outlets, while Airbus announces the loss of 2,730 jobs at two UK factories. The weekly Office for National Statistics (ONS) household survey for 14–27 June estimates that new infections were occurring in England at a rate of 25,000 per week, a slight increase on their previous report. Blood samples show around 6% of people have antibodies.
3 July The UK government published a list of 59 countries for which quarantine will not apply when arriving back in England as from 10 July. They include Greece, France, Belgium and Spain, but Portugal and the United States are among those not on the list. These changes do not apply to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, where quarantine restrictions remain in place for all arrivals from outside the UK. The UK government rushed The Health Protection (COVID-19, Restrictions) (Leicester) Regulations 2020 through parliament to give police the powers to enforce lockdown restrictions in Leicester as from 4 July.
4 July The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020 came into force in England, replacing and relaxing the previous Lockdown Regulations (SI 350), and giving the Secretary of State powers to make declarations restricting access to public outdoor places. Leicester was excluded from the relaxations due to its high rate of COVID-19, with more stringent regulations in force. The COVID Symptom Study reports that the two-week average number of new daily cases for the two weeks to 4 July 2020 was no lower than for the previous week; rates of new COVID cases were no longer declining. After Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage posted a picture of himself in a pub on Twitter a fortnight after attending a rally in support of US President Donald Trump in the United States, Ed Davey, the acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, wrote to Kent Police asking them to investigate whether Farage had breached lockdown restrictions. On the same day, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's father, Stanley, had to defend a trip to Greece which critics say broke restrictions. Augusto Santos Silva, the foreign minister of Portugal, criticised the UK's decision to exclude his country from the list of countries from where travellers do not have to quarantine when returning to the UK as "absurd". The National Gallery, set to be the first museum to reopen to the public on 8 July, gave a preview to the media of its new safety measures. The UK held a minute's silence to remember those who had died of COVID-19.
5 July The UK stages a national round of applause to mark the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the National Health Service; a Supermarine Spitfire flypast over several hospitals in the east of England also takes place to mark the occasion.
6 July The UK government announces grants and loans of £1.57bn to support theatres, galleries, museums and other cultural venues affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. As concerns about increasing unemployment grow, the UK government announces a £111m scheme to help firms in England provide an extra 30,000 trainee places; £21m will be provided to fund similar schemes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Sandwich retailer Pret a Manger announces plans to close 30 outlets with the loss of 1,000 jobs. The BBC's Panorama programme reports that scientific research has suggested the COVID-19 outbreak could result in several thousand extra cancer deaths due to delayed diagnosis and treatment, with estimates being between 7,000 and 35,000. No new deaths are reported for Wales for the most recent 24-hour period.
7 July Figures from the Office for National Statistics indicate only 22% of people testing positive for COVID-19 had symptoms on the day they were tested. Downing Street rejects calls for Boris Johnson to issue an apology after comments the previous day that "too many care homes didn't really follow procedures" over COVID-19, but says what he was saying was that not enough was known about the virus in its early stages. Circus performers call on the UK government to include their industry in the arts rescue package unveiled the previous day.
8 July Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveils a £30bn spending package aimed at mitigating the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including a temporary reduction in VAT for the hospitality sector, a scheme to pay firms £1,000 for each employee brought back from furlough, a scheme to get young people into employment, and a temporary rise in the stamp duty threshold. McDonald's resumes serving breakfast at most of its sites. The annual McDonald's Monopoly campaign is postponed to 2021 for the first time in 15 years.
9 July Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, announces that gyms, indoor pools and leisure centres can reopen from 25 July. High street retailers Boots and John Lewis announce job losses because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Boots cutting 4,000 positions, and John Lewis closing eight stores with the loss of 1,300 posts. Two sets of data are released that show the number of cases of COVID-19 are falling in England; Office for National Statistics figures estimate one in 3,900 people have the virus, down from one in 2,200 the previous week, while Public Health England figures indicate that cases fell by 25% in the week to 5 July. The Institute of Fiscal Studies warns that taxes will have to rise to pay off the support measures put in place by the government. Northern Ireland lifts quarantine regulations on arrivals from 50 countries, including France, Italy, Germany and Spain, effective from 10 July. The BBC confirms it will go ahead with plans to end free TV licences for over-75s from 1 August, except for those on pension credit, a measure it postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
10 July Quarantine rules are relaxed for people arriving into the UK from 75 countries and overseas territories. Figures released by the National Police Chiefs' Council show that no fines were issued in England and Wales for breach of quarantine rules during the first two weeks after their introduction, while ten people were fined for not wearing face coverings on public transport in the two weeks preceding 22 June. As the wearing of face coverings becomes mandatory in shops in Scotland, the UK Government considers whether to introduce the same rule for shops in England, while Prime Minister Boris Johnson is seen in public wearing one. Bosses at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, one of the UK's leading production theatres, warn the theatre is at risk of losing 47 of its staff members (about 40% of its workforce), and is in danger of closing because of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
11 July Parts of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 come into effect, allowing outdoor swimming pools and water parks to re-open. Operators of outdoor swimming pools, many of them community groups and charities, criticise the UK government's timing, citing a lack of preparation time that has made a short summer season "unviable". Belgium includes Leicester on its "red zone" list, meaning anyone who has recently visited the city will be required to quarantine for 14 days on arrival in Belgium.
12 July High Street fashion retailer Primark says it will not take advantage of the Jobs Retention Bonus announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak. The company placed 30,000 of its employees on furlough during the pandemic, but has since brought them all back to work, and would have been entitled to £30m under the scheme.
13 July The remainder of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 comes into effect, allowing the re-opening of nail bars and salons, tanning booths and salons, spas and beauty salons, massage parlours, tattoo parlours, and body and skin piercing services.
14 July A report commissioned by the UK's chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, produces estimates for potential COVID-19 deaths in a deadly second wave scenario over the coming winter, with best and worst case outcomes depending on the level of action taken to control the virus. The report forecasts a figure of between 24,500 and 251,000 hospital deaths, with a peak in January and February 2021, but stresses the figures are forecasts and not predictions, and do not take factors such as the development of a vaccine into account. The UK government announces that the wearing of face coverings will become compulsory in shops and supermarkets in England from 24 July. Those who fail to do so will face a fine of up to £100. Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the move will "give people more confidence to shop safely and enhance protections for those who work in shops". Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that UK economic recovery was at 1.8% in May 2020 when compared to the previous month, a smaller amount than was expected.
15 July Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirms an independent inquiry will be held into the handling of the pandemic, but says it would not be right to devote "huge amounts of official time" to an inquiry while the pandemic is ongoing. A temporary cut in Value-added tax worth £4bn comes into force until 12 January 2021 as a means of helping the food and hospitality industries. Nando's, Pret a Manger, KFC and McDonald's are among the firms to announce price reductions as a result. Online retailer ASOS says it will repay furlough cash it received from the UK government after sales increased by 10% to £1bn in the four months up to 30 June.
16 July The National Cyber Security Centre accuses Russian spies of targeting organisations developing COVID-19 vaccines in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada in order to steal information relating to their work. Figures released by the UK government show the number of workers on UK payrolls fell by 649,000 from March to June, but unemployment did not increase as much as feared because many companies took advantage of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Speaking to the House of Commons Scientific Advisory Committee, the UK's Chief Medical Officer Sir Patrick Vallance says there is "absolutely no reason" to change the advice about working from home, and that it remains a "perfectly good option" for many. Health Secretary Matt Hancock announces that the Leicester local lockdown is to be extended. The boundaries are redrawn so that only the Leicester unitary authority plus the borough of Oadby and Wigston are now included in the travel and business restrictions, with the other areas of Leicestershire being released. Review of the situation was set for 1 August.
17 July