The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom from January to June 2022.
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.
Events January 2022 1 January A further 162,572 COVID cases are reported for England, the highest daily figure so far. Although official events to celebrate New Year were cancelled in London and Edinburgh, crowds gather at both locations to welcome in 2022. London's fireworks display goes ahead as planned, but people are asked to stay away because of the risk of COVID. Professors Chris Whitty and Jonathan Van-Tam, the respective Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Chief Medical officer for England, are both knighted in the 2022 New Year Honours. Also to be recognised with Honours are Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, and Dr June Raine, chief executive of the vaccines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, who are both made dames. Scotland's Chief Medical Officer, Dr Gregor Smith and Wales's Chief Medical Officer, Dr Frank Atherton are also knighted. Writing in the Daily Mail, Health Secretary Sajid Javid says further COVID restrictions must be that "absolute last resort" and that the UK must learn to "live alongside" the virus in 2022. Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, says the next few days will be vital to understanding the effect of the Omicron variant on the NHS. With the continued spread of Omicron variant cases, the UK government warns of a worst-case scenario that could see as many as 25% of the country's workforce absent. Ministers are tasked with developing "robust contingency plans" for the public sector in such a situation. A COVID-19 testing centre is deliberately set on fire in Dumbarton.
2 January A further 137,583 COVID cases are reported for England and Wales, down on the previous day's figure. Ministers have said there is nothing in the data to suggest new COVID rules are needed for England. Health Minister Edward Argar urges "cool, calm heads", while Steve Barclay says there have been "significant behaviour change" as a result of Plan B measures. The UK government announces that face masks are to be worn in schools in England when classes resume following the Christmas holiday.
3 January During a visit to a vaccination centre in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that England must stick with Plan B measures as the NHS comes under increasing pressure, but adds the UK is in a "much better position" than the previous winter. The Royal College of Nursing urges the UK government to take a more cautious approach as the Omicron variant continues to spread. Scotland reports 20,217 cases, its highest daily figures so far, and the first time cases have gone above 20,000. Staff shortages continue to affect the hospitality and retail sectors, with warnings of closures if they worsen. A letter signed by Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi advises schools in England to prepare for staff absences by merging classes into larger groups, and to consider what it describes as "flexible" teaching options. Figures produced by NHS Digital and obtained by the Press Association show that thousands of people in England required hospital treatment during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 after undertaking activities such as DIY, remote work, cookery and dog walking. Staff shortages at local authorities have led to the cancellation of refuse collections across the UK, it is reported.
4 January Sir Andrew Pollard, chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, warns that giving booster vaccines every six months is "not sustainable", and there needs to be more evidence before a fourth vaccine is implemented. A record 218,724 daily COVID cases are recorded for England and Scotland; it is the first time the daily figure has been over 200,000, but delays in reporting some cases over Christmas likely to be responsible for the high number. At a Downing Street press conference, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces that around 100,000 critical workers will be offered daily COVID tests from 10 January in order to help to keep the Omicron variant at bay, but is confident further restrictions may not be needed, telling reporters "we have a chance to ride out this Omicron wave without shutting down our country once again". A number of hospital trusts have now declared critical incidents, although it is not unusual for that to happen in January. An article by BBC News Health Correspondent Nick Triggle points to a difficult month ahead due to the rise in Omicron variant infections, but says early evidence is suggesting the current wave will be different to previous waves, with Omicron causing less severe illness, and hospitalisations five times lower than at the same point in 2021. ScotRail puts in place a temporary revised timetable until 28 January amid a high number of absences among its staff due to COVID. The Rail Delivery Group estimates as many as one in ten rail workers is absent from work due to COVID-related issues, with services subject to cancellation and amended timetables. As well as ScotRail, LNER and CrossCountry services are also badly affected. Hong Kong announces the suspension of all flights from eight countries, including the UK and US, for two weeks from 8 January.
5 January A further 194,747 COVID cases are recorded for the UK. As figures suggest one in fifteen people in the UK had COVID on New Year's Eve, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirms that Plan B measures in England will stay in place for a further three weeks. In the House of Commons Johnson is urged by Conservative MPs to outline an exit strategy from COVID restrictions, and to explain how the UK can "live with this virus". Rules regarding PCR tests in England are to change from the following week, meaning anyone testing positive for COVID with a lateral flow test but who have no symptoms will no longer need to follow the test with a PCR test; they will still be required to self-isolate for seven days though. Wales also announces the same changes, but plans to bring them in from the following day. At least ten hospital trusts in England have declared critical incidents due to COVID, with Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust being the latest to do so. The Welsh Rugby Union is considering playing some of its 2022 Six Nations Championship matches in England due to crowd restrictions imposed by the Welsh Government. The family of Captain Sir Tom Moore thank Milton Keynes radio station MKFM for being the first media organisation to get behind his 2020 fundraising campaign for the NHS.
6 January Data from the UK Health Security Agency shows London is no longer the epicentre of COVID infections and that areas of the north west, such as Liverpool, Manchester and the Lake District, are recording higher cases. The data also shows the uptake of booster vaccines has also slowed. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that anti-vaccination campaigners who are spreading misinformation about COVID through social media are "totally wrong" and that it is time "to call them out". An Office for National Statistics survey suggests as many as 1.3 million people in the UK have Long COVID symptoms that persist four weeks after an initial infection. On the eve of changes to the rules regarding PCR tests for travellers to and from England, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps describes them as having "outlived [their] usefulness" because Omicron is now "widespread and worldwide". Details of a review used by the UK government to reintroduce face masks in schools for England comes to light in which the evidence of their effectiveness is described as "not conclusive". Professor John Watkins, an epidemiologist for Public Health Wales and an honorary research fellow at the University of Cardiff says it is time to return COVID restrictions to pre-Omicron levels because the booster programme has made the risk from it no worse than the Delta variant. Scotland reduces the period of self-isolation following a positive COVID test from ten to seven days, bringing it in line with England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The number of confirmed COVID cases in Scotland since the start of the pandemic has passed one million.
7 January From 4am people in England who are fully vaccinated are no longer required to take a pre-departure COVID test before travelling abroad, while anyone arriving in England who has had both vaccines is not required to self-isolate while waiting for the results of a PCR test. Similar changes are also made in Scotland. The change in travel rules leads to a surge in holiday bookings; travel company Jet2 reports bookings have returned to "around pre-Covid levels". Confirming there is to be no relaxation of COVID rules in Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford accuses Prime Minister Boris Johnson of failing to take the necessary precautions to protect people in England. COVID-related staff absences in the NHS in England increased threefold during December 2021 according to BBC News, while other reports suggest the number of staff absences increased by a third from 60,316 at the beginning of December to 82,384 on 2 January. The nursing trade union, the Royal College of Nursing, describes the situation as "simply not safe". A further 178,250 COVID cases are recorded in the UK. Figures produced by the Office for National Statistics estimate that one in fifteen people tested positive for COVID in the final week of December 2021, which equates to around 3.7 million people having the virus. Around 200 military personnel have been deployed to help short-staffed hospitals and ambulance services in England. Health Secretary Sajid Javid says he is concerned about a rise in hospital admissions among older people. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) says a fourth vaccine dose is not yet needed since the booster dose continues to provide good protection against the Omicron variant in older adults. Drinks arranged by a "senior No. 10 official" in May 2020 around five days after Boris Johnson and other staff were pictured at another gathering may have broken COVID rules according to former Downing Street special adviser Dominic Cummings.
8 January The number of UK recorded COVID deaths passes 150,000, as a further 313 deaths take the total to 150,057. A further 146,390 new cases are recorded. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that COVID has taken a "terrible toll on our country". Business owners in Wales have expressed their concern for the economy if Wales plays its Six Nations matches in England as a way of getting around prohibitions on large crowds, with estimates each game could cost Cardiff alone £20million.
9 January Clive Kay, chief executive of King's College Hospital, expresses his concern that the mandatory requirement for NHS staff to be vaccinated, which begins in April 2022, will lead to an exodus of staff, as the latest figures show one in ten NHS workers have not had the vaccine.