Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom (2024)

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The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom in 2024.

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.[1] 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,[2] 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.[3]

Events[edit]

January 2024[edit]

  • 1 January – Writing on X, Doug Barrowman, husband of Baroness Michelle Mone, claims it "suits the agenda" of ministers to "scapegoat" him and his wife as a means of distracting from government "incompetence" at failing to procure personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]
  • 5 January – The death is announced of lobbyist and political adviser Derek Draper, who became seriously ill with an exceptionally severe case of Long COVID after contracting COVID-19 in 2020.[5]
  • 10 January – Baroness Heather Hallett, chair of the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, confirms the inquiry will postpone the start of hearing evidence about the development of a vaccine as more time is needed to prepare for a separate investigation into the impact of COVID-19 on the NHS. Consequently, the vaccine evidence, which was due to begin being heard in Summer 2024 may not begin until after the next general election.[6]
  • 11 January – A University of Birmingham study estimates that GP appointments and other primary care consultations generated by long COVID cost the NHS an extra £23m per year.[7]
  • 12 January –
    • A report published by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office reveals that the UK government spent £27,000 replenishing its wine cellar between 2020 and 2022, while use of the cellar, situated in Lancaster House, fell by 96% during 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]
    • Surgeons at a plastic surgery unit at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, Surrey, have reported a doubling of the number of patients being treated for dog bites since the pandemic, with dog ownership increasing during that time.[9]
  • 16 January –
    • Research published in The Lancet suggests that 7,000 hospitalisations from COVID-19 could have been avoided during the summer of 2022 if the population had received the full amount of available vaccinations. The same study shows that 44% of the population were under vaccinated at the time, with the highest rate being among younger people.[10]
    • Scotland's Finance Secretary, Shona Robison, confirms that the Scottish Government is to cut at least 1,200 funded university places as they cannot afford to continue paying for additional places created during the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]
    • Helen Goss, the mother of an eleven-year-old girl from Aberdeenshire with long COVID, launches legal action against NHS Grampian for what she says are the health board's "multiple failings" in the care and treatment of her daughter.[12]
  • 19 January – The Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry hears that all of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's WhatsApp messages relating to the pandemic appear to have been deleted.[13]
  • 20 January – In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) Nicola Sturgeon says that all messages between her and colleagues communicated "through informal means" were handed to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry in 2023.[14]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the UK". UK government COVID-19 Web site.
  2. ^ "About this Research". ZOE. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  3. ^ "COVID Symptom Study". ZOE. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Michelle Mone husband: We're a scapegoat for PPE failures". BBC News. BBC. 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Derek Draper: Kate Garraway says husband has died, aged 56". BBC News. BBC. 5 January 2024.
  6. ^ Reed, Jim (10 January 2024). "Covid inquiry postpones vaccine investigation". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  7. ^ Dawkins, Andrew (11 January 2024). "Long Covid GP consultations 'cost £23m'". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  8. ^ Whannel, Kate (12 January 2024). "Government defends spending £27,000 on wine during Covid". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  9. ^ Moore, Ben; Bish, Alex; Woodhead, Lauren (12 January 2024). "Dog attacks: Victims double since pandemic, surgeon says". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  10. ^ Roxby, Philippa (16 January 2024). "Covid jab skipped by 44%, entire UK study finds". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Funded places for Scottish universities to be cut". BBC News. BBC. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Long Covid: NHS legal action launched by family of girl". BBC News. BBC. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  13. ^ "UK Covid inquiry: Nicola Sturgeon's Covid WhatsApp messages 'all deleted'". BBC News. BBC. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Covid Inquiry has my informal messages, says Sturgeon". BBC News. BBC. 20 January 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2024.

External links[edit]

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