In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the British government introduced various public health and economic measures to mitigate its impact, many of which applied only in England. Devolution allowed the UK's four nations to each have their own responses to the pandemic; the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive introduced different policies. Numerous laws were enacted or introduced throughout the crisis.
The UK government had developed a pandemic response plan in previous years. In response to the first confirmed COVID-19 cases in January 2020, the UK introduced advice for travellers coming from affected countries in late January and February 2020, and began contact tracing, although this was later abandoned. The government incrementally introduced further societal restrictions on the public as the virus spread across the country in the following weeks, initially resisting more stringent measures introduced elsewhere in Europe and Asia. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the first national lockdown on 23 March 2020 and Parliament introduced the Coronavirus Act 2020, which granted the devolved governments emergency powers and empowered the police to enforce public health measures.
As the governments began lifting the nationwide stay-at-home order, policies and approaches diverged between the four nations. The Scottish Government's response uniquely pursued an elimination strategy. Across the country, localised lockdowns, social distancing measures, self-isolation laws for those exposed to the virus and rules on face masks were introduced (although certain exemptions were permitted), as well as efforts to expand COVID-19 testing and tracing. In autumn and winter 2020, further nationwide lockdowns were introduced in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases and the Alpha variant. A COVID-19 vaccination programme began in December 2020. In mid-2021 the government lifted most restrictions during the third wave driven by the Delta variant, until the "winter plan" reintroduced some rules in response to the Omicron variant in December that year. Remaining restrictions were lifted in England from 24 February 2022 under a "living with COVID" plan announced by the government on that date. Economic support was provided to struggling businesses and to furlough employees to mitigate the severe economic impact. It also forwent the procurement process in contracts in response to shortages of PPE and medical equipment, major issues in the early months of the outbreak, and for developing a contact tracing app.
The UK government's response to the pandemic, in particular the timeliness of public health measures being introduced and lifted, has faced criticism from academic medical sources, media outlets, relatives of COVID-19 patients and various political figures. This criticism continued amid the Partygate scandal, as multiple government officials were revealed to have breached COVID-19 social distancing restrictions during lockdowns, including Johnson and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak. A public inquiry into the response was established in June 2022.
Prior pandemic response plans The UK Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Strategy was published in 2011 and updated in 2014, alongside a review of the available medical and social countermeasures. Pandemic flu guidance was published in 2013 and updated in 2017, covering guidance for local planners, business sectors, and an ethical framework for the government response. The guidance stated:
In 2016, the government carried out Exercise Cygnus, a three-day simulation of a widespread flu outbreak. A report compiled the following year by Public Health England (but not made public) found deficiencies in emergency plans, lack of central oversight and difficulty managing capacity in care homes. In June 2020, the Permanent Secretary at the Treasury, Tom Scholar, and the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, Alex Chisholm, told the Public Accounts Committee that the civil service did not subsequently create a plan for dealing with the pandemic's effects on the economy.
Regulations and legislation
The government published the Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020 on 10 February 2020, a statutory instrument covering the legal framework behind the government's initial containment and isolation strategies and its organisation of the national reaction to the virus for England.The Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020 Government of the United Kingdom Other published regulations include changes to Statutory sick pay (into force on 13 March),The Statutory Sick Pay (General) (Coronavirus Amendment) Regulations 2020 Government of the United Kingdom and changes to Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit (also 13 March).The Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit (Coronavirus Disease) Regulations 2020 Government of the United Kingdom
On 19 March, the government introduced the Coronavirus Act 2020, which grants the government discretionary emergency powers in the areas of the NHS, social care, schools, police, the Border Force, local councils, funerals and courts. The act received royal assent on 25 March 2020.
Closures to pubs, restaurants and indoor sports and leisure facilities were imposed in England via the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Business Closure) (England) Regulations 2020.The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Business Closure) (England) Regulations 2020 UK Statutory Instruments 2020 No. 327 Table of contents Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 26 March 2020
The restrictions on movements, except for allowed purposes, were: Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 UK Statutory Instruments 2020 No. 350 Table of contents Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 26 March 2020 (and subsequent amendments) Since replaced by The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020 Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) Regulations 2020 The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 In England from 15 June 2020, the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings on Public Transport) (England) Regulations 2020 required travellers on public transport to wear a face covering.
On 25 June 2020, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 was enacted to provide additional protections to companies in financial difficulty as a result of the impacts of the pandemic.
Initial response (January–March 2020)
The first published government statement on the COVID-19 situation in Wuhan was released on 22 January 2020 by the Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England. Guidance has progressed in line with the number of cases detected and changes in where affected people have contracted the virus, as well as with what has been happening in other countries. In February, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) to the British government, Chris Whitty said "we basically have a strategy which depends upon four tactical aims: the first one is to contain; the second of these is to delay; the third of these is to do the science and the research; and the fourth is to mitigate so we can brace the NHS". These aims equate to four phases; specific actions involved in each of these phases are: Contain: detect early cases, follow up close contacts, and prevent the disease from taking hold in this country for as long as is reasonably possible Delay: slow the spread within the UK, and (if it does take hold) lower the peak impact and push it away from the winter season Research: better understand the virus and the actions that will lessen its effect on the British population; innovate responses including diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines; use the evidence to inform the development of the most effective models of care Mitigate: provide the best care possible for people who become ill, support hospitals to maintain essential services and ensure ongoing support for people ill in the community, to minimise the overall impact of the disease on society, public services and on the economy.Department of Health and Social Care, Emergency and Health Protection Directorate, Coronavirus: action plan: A guide to what you can expect across the UK , published 3 March. Retrieved 7 March 2020
The four CMOs of the home nations raised the UK's risk level from low to moderate on 30 January 2020, upon the WHO's announcement of the disease as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. As soon as cases appeared in the UK on 31 January 2020, a public health information campaign, similar to the previous "Catch it, Bin it, Kill it" campaign, was launched in the UK, to advise people how to lessen the risk of spreading the virus. Travellers from Hubei province in China, including the capital Wuhan, were advised to self-isolate, "stay at home, not go to work, school or public places, not use public transport or taxis; ask friends, family members or delivery services to do errands", and call NHS 111 if they had arrived in the UK in the previous 14 days, regardless of whether they were unwell or not. Further cases in early February prompted the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, to announce the Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020. Daily updates have been published by the Department of Health and Social Care. NHS Digital in the meanwhile, have been collecting data.
On 25 February 2020, the British CMOs advised all travellers (unwell or not) who had returned to the UK from Hubei province in the previous 14 days, Iran, specific areas designated by the Italian government as quarantine areas in northern Italy, and special care zones in South Korea since 19 February, to self-isolate and call NHS 111. This advice was also advocated for any person with flu-like symptoms and a history of travelling from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and areas in Italy north of Pisa, Florence and Rimini, returning to the UK since 19 February. Later, self-isolation was recommended for anyone returning from any part of Italy from 9March.
Initially, Prime Minister Boris Johnson largely kept Britain open, resisting the kind of lockdowns seen elsewhere in Europe. In a speech on 3February, Johnson's main concern was that the "coronavirus will trigger a panic and a desire for market segregation that go beyond what is medically rational to the point of doing real and unnecessary economic damage"."Britain must become the superman of global free trade", The Spectator, 3 February 2020. On 11 February, a "senior member of the government" told the ITV journalist Robert Peston that "If there is a pandemic, the peak will be March, April, May" and, further, that "the risk is 60% of the population getting it. With a mortality rate of perhaps just over 1%, we are looking at not far off 500,000 deaths".Robert Peston, 'How the government could have done more earlier to protect against Covid-19' , ITV News, 19 April 2020. On 8 March, Peston reported that the government believed the Italian government's approach to lockdown to be based on "several of the populist – non-science based – measures that aren't any use. They're who not to follow". Later the Times revealed that, in early March, the government did not even ask its scientists to model whether a lockdown might be a solution.