2 december. professor sir mark walport, a member of the government's sage advisors, suggests the virus is "unlikely to be completely controlled" by 2 december. boris johnson faces a potential rebellion from some of his backbench mps angry at lockdown measures they describe as "disastrous" to the economy, with sir graham brady, chairman of the 1922 committee, suggesting up to 80 conservative mps may vote against the measures when they are debated in parliament. transport for london secures a £1.8bn government bailout to keep bus and tube services running until march 2021. religious groups criticise the new lockdown rules that ban communal worship. mayors in some of england's covid-19 hotspots, including andy burnham of greater manchester, call for schools and colleges to be closed during the month-long lockdown. tennis and golf officials urge the government to make their sports exempt from the new lockdown rules amid concerns they are on the brink of collapse. 2 november – boris johnson tells the house of commons the uk faces a "medical and moral disaster" without the planned month-long lockdown for england, but that it will end "without a shred of doubt" on 2 december. chancellor rishi sunak announces that self-employed people will be able to claim 80% of their earnings during the lockdown period. universities advise students not to move home during the lockdown, even if their courses are switched to being taught online. 3 november – the health protection (coronavirus, restrictions) (england) (no. 4) regulations 2020 are "laid on the table" in parliament, to come into effect for 28 days beginning on 5 november. liverpool is to pilot a regular covid-19 rapid testing trial with logistic support from around 2,000 military personnel. defending impending lockdown restrictions, england's chief medical officer dr chris whitty says that "economically and socially destructive" lockdowns are the only practical option until a vaccine and drugs are found to treat covid-19. a software defect in the test and trace scheme has led to more than 7,200 people in england being told to stop self-isolating on the wrong date. retailers, including currys pc world and john lewis, stay open later in the days preceding lockdown to cope with increased customer demand. 4 november – mps vote 516–39 to support the four-week lockdown restrictions for england, with 34 conservative mps among those to vote against the measures, while a further 19 conservatives abstain from voting. the nhs in england is put on the highest alert level. new guidelines are issued for care homes allowing visitors. for the first time, nhs test and trace makes covid-19 tests available for gps to use at their discretion, for symptomatic patients, symptomatic staff and their symptomatic household members. 5 november – as england's second lockdown begins, the uk statistics authority criticises the government over the way it presented data estimating potential covid deaths to justify the measures at the 31 october downing street press conference, and calls for greater transparency of data and the way projections are made. at a downing street press conference, boris johnson says the four week lockdown should be enough to make a "real impact" on the virus. the university of manchester apologises after large metal fences were erected around halls of residence on its fallowfield campus without warning. the fences are removed again following protests from several hundred students. police break up an anti-lockdown protest in central london as 104 are arrested. foreign secretary dominic raab is reported to be self-isolating after coming into contact with a person who had tested positive for covid-19. 6 november – the first trial of city-wide covid testing gets underway in liverpool. 7 november – the number of testing sites in liverpool is doubled after 12,000 people are tested at six sites on the first day of the trial. non-urgent operations are suspended at hospitals in greater manchester. 9 november - the organisers of a manchester anti-lockdown demonstration involving 600 people are issued with a £10,000 fine. 10 november – covid mass testing is to be rolled out to a further 67 areas of england, health secretary matt hancock announces, including nottinghamshire, yorkshire and parts of the west midlands. a report from ofsted says the covid crisis has led to a slipping back of learning skills for most children in england, while some have forgotten social skills, such as how to use a knife and fork. 11 november – an evacuation-style operation to get students home safely for christmas is announced. they will be offered rapid covid tests, and allocated travel dates in a "student travel window" between 3–9 december. a study by the northern health science alliance says northern england has been hit worse by the covid crisis, "exacerbating" regional inequalities. 12 november – the number of people waiting for hospital treatment in england for over a year has hit its highest level since 2008, with 140,000 having waited more than 12 months. 13 november – around 90,000 covid tests have been carried out in liverpool during the first week of mass testing in the city. research conducted by the university of nottingham has found that rapid covid testing in care homes is as effective as tests carried out in hospitals, prompting researchers to suggest mass testing for care homes would be a "game changer" for residents and their families. 14 november – professor susan michie, a government scientific adviser, says the next two weeks will be "absolutely crucial" if england's second lockdown is to be lifted on 2 december, and warns people not to be complacent. fourteen people are arrested at an anti-lockdown protest in bristol, and sixteen at a demonstration in liverpool. scarborough council asks people to stay away from the coastal town as covid rates increase to 565.5 per 100,000. 15 november – the metropolitan police allow a baptism involving 30 people to go ahead at an islington church in spite of lockdown regulations prohibiting such gatherings. two police vans attend the baptism, with officers preventing further people from entering the church, but fifteen people already inside are allowed to continue, while a further fifteen attend an outdoor service. 16 november – dr susan hopkins of public health england suggests the regional covid tier system may need to be "strengthened" to get the country "through the winter". mass testing in liverpool has discovered 700 covid cases where those testing positive had no symptoms, public health england has announced. council leaders in hull write to the prime minister to ask for urgent action as covid cases rise to 770 in 100,000. andy marsh, the chief constable of avon and somerset police, criticises anti-lockdown marchers who gathered in bristol over the preceding weekend as "selfish idiots" and "an embarrassment to bristol". 17 november – from 4am, travel rules are relaxed for people arriving in england to work on poultry farms to ensure there is enough turkey available for christmas. ministers are reported to be looking at toughening the tier system for england when the second lockdown ends on 2 december. the uk government changes the way it records covid data for england, resulting in an increase in cases for some areas. the changes involve people, such as students, who have moved location, but whose cases were still being recorded at their home address. consequently, areas such as newcastle, york and lincoln have seen a dramatic increase in case numbers, with those in newcastle increasing by a quarter. sources, including bbc news, report the uk government is looking at allowing spectators to return to sports venues in some parts of england as early as christmas. london heathrow receives the first transatlantic flight where everyone on board had tested negative for coronavirus prior to boarding at newark airport, new york. 18 november – research has indicated that one in five of london's black cabs has been taken out of service since june due to a slump in demand for their use because of the covid crisis. baroness dido harding, the head of nhs test and trace, is self-isolating after receiving an alert that she had been in contact with a person who has tested positive for covid. 20 november – a bbc investigation has found that nhs test and trace is reaching as little as half of those identified as close contacts in some areas. 21 november – downing street confirms plans to introduce a tougher three-tier system of covid restrictions for england when the lockdown ends on 2 december. sources, including bbc news, report that chancellor rishi sunak is to announce a £500m package to support mental health services in england, which have been in greater demand because of the covid crisis. dozens of arrests are made after hundreds attend anti-lockdown protest in liverpool, and other parts of england. 23 november – prime minister boris johnson confirms that england's three-tier system of covid regulations will return once the lockdown expires on 2 december, but with toughened measures for each area. gyms and non-essential shops will reopen throughout england, while collective worship and weddings will be allowed again, as well as some spectator sport. the tier status of each region will be reviewed every 14 days, with the regional approach scheduled to last until march 2021. up to 4,000 spectators will be allowed at outdoor sporting events from 2 december in the lowest tier areas, with 2,000 allowed in tier 2 areas. students are to be urged to take two covid-19 tests three days apart before travelling home, it is announced. but tests will be voluntary, and will not be on offer at all universities. 24 november – transport secretary grant shapps announces that travellers arriving in england from 15 december can reduce their quarantine period by paying for a covid test after five days. figures have shown that one in five secondary pupils in england has missed schooling in the past week due to disruption caused by covid-19. the initial post-lockdown tiers in england, from wednesday 2 december 2020, were announced on 26 november 26 november – england's new tier system is announced, coming into force on 2 december. most of the country, including london and liverpool, is put into tier 2, while large parts of the midlands, north east and north west, including greater manchester and birmingham, are put into tier 3. only the isle of wight, cornwall and the isles of scilly are placed into tier 1. data for 19–21 november shows that cases are falling in every part of england. 27 november – health officials have warned that plans for mass testing in england threaten to be a distraction to other priorities, such as the rollout of a vaccine. a laboratory error leads to hundreds of people wrongly being told they have tested positive for covid-19 by nhs test and trace. 28 november – writing in the times, cabinet office minister michael gove warns backbench conservative mps planning to vote against the new tier system for england that without the measures hospitals throughout the country will become overwhelmed with covid cases. more than 150 people are arrested at an anti-lockdown protest in london's west end organised by save our rights uk. 29 november – foreign secretary dominic raab says that england's new tier system is needed in order to avoid a third wave of covid-19. the uk government issues new rules for christmas permitting door-to-door carol singing and the opening of santa's grottos in all tiers, but people in tier 3 will not be able to attend a school nativity play and will instead have to watch it via livestream or as a recording. 30 november – health secretary matt hancock announces that the lockdown measures in england have helped to bring covid-19 under control again, with cases having reduced by around 30% during the preceding week, but warns that vigilance is still needed. in a bid to persuade backbench mps to support the new tier regulations for england, the uk government publishes data behind its decision to introduce the measures, stating that it seeks to "balance the many complex impacts" of restrictions and keep them in place "for as short a time as possible", but that allowing covid to spread "would lead to impacts...considered intolerable for society". in response, senior conservative mp mark harper claims the "wheels are coming off the government's arguments". the uk government announces a further expansion of community testing in england.