deaths since lockdown began in march. thousands of protesters take part in a second day of anti-racism demonstrations in cities across the uk. professor john edmunds, one of the scientists advising the uk government, says he wishes the lockdown had been implemented earlier as the delay "cost a lot of lives", but adds that data was "really quite poor", making it "very hard" to do act earlier. responding to the comments, health secretary matt hancock says the government "took the right decision at the right time". 8 june rules requiring travellers arriving into the uk to quarantine for 14 days come into force. the number of recorded deaths rises by 55 to 40,597, the lowest daily number since lockdown was introduced on 23 march; no deaths are reported in scotland for a second consecutive day, and there are no new deaths in london hospitals. bp announces plans to shed 10,000 jobs amid a global drop in demand for oil. 9 june business secretary alok sharma confirms that all non-essential retailers in england can reopen from monday 15 june providing they follow safety guidelines. however, pubs, bars, restaurants and hairdressers must wait until 4 july "at the earliest" to reopen. prime minister boris johnson announces that zoos and safari parks will also reopen on 15 june. figures released by the treasury show that 8.9 million workers are now covered by covid-19 job retention scheme, a quarter of the uk workforce, with it having cost £19.6bn to date. thirty medical organisations that represent black, asian and minority ethnic doctors and nurses write to health secretary matt hancock and equalities minister kemi badenoch expressing their concern at a government review that found black, asian and ethnic minority people are twice as likely to die from covid-19. 10 june professor neil ferguson, the government scientist whose advice was crucial in persuading the government to implement the lockdown measures, says that half of the lives lost to covid-19 could have been saved if the measures had been introduced a week earlier. 11 june health secretary matt hancock describes participation with the test and trace programme as a "civic duty". figures from the office for national statistics indicate those under the age of 30 have been hardest hit by a fall in income during the covid-19 outbreak. 12 june figures released by the office for national statistics show that the uk economy shrunk by 20.4% in april, the largest monthly contraction on record. further ons figures indicate deprived areas have been hit twice as hard by the covid-19 epidemic when compared to more affluent areas. the impact has also been greater in urban areas compared to rural areas, with london experiencing the highest number of deaths per 100,000. the weekly ons household survey finds that around 33,000 people in england had covid-19 at any given time between 25 may and 7 june, and estimates the rate of new infections to be around 31,600 per week, down from 39,000 the previous week. 13 june parts of the health protection (covid-19, restrictions) (england) (amendment no. 4) regulations 2020 (si 588) come into effect. in england and northern ireland, households with one adult may now become linked with one other household of any size, allowing them to be treated as one for the purpose of permitted gatherings. this also allows the members of one household to stay overnight at the home of the other. the government refers to this as a ”support bubble”. the rules on gatherings are also relaxed to allow medical appointments and births to be accompanied, and to permit some visits to people in hospital, hospices and care homes. the welsh guard performs a unique socially distanced military ceremony at windsor castle to mark the queen's official birthday. the ceremony is held in place of the cancelled trooping of the colour, and sees the queen's first public appearance since lockdown began. 15 june the remainder of the health protection (covid-19, restrictions) (england) (amendment no. 4) regulations 2020 (si 588) comes into effect, allowing the general re-opening of english retail shops and public-facing businesses apart from those that are on a list of specific exclusions such as restaurants, bars, pubs, nightclubs, most cinemas, theatres, museums, hairdressers, indoor sports and leisure facilities. outdoor animal-related attractions such as farms, zoos and safari parks may open. places of worship may again be used for private prayer (but not for communal worship). english libraries still have to remain closed. the isle of man lifts restrictions on social distancing except in health and care environments. wearing a face covering becomes mandatory on public transport. 16 june the low-dose steroid treatment dexamethasone, which has been part of clinical trials for existing drugs that could be used to treat patients with covid-19, is heralded as a major breakthrough after it was found to cut the number of deaths. experts estimate up to 5,000 lives may have been saved in the uk had the treatment been used from the outset. prime minister boris johnson describes the news as a genuine case to celebrate "a remarkable british scientific achievement". dexamethasone will be made available through the nhs, which has a stockpile of 200,000 doses. office for national statistics figures suggest more than 600,000 people have lost their jobs between march and may because of the impact of the covid-19 outbreak. a report published by national foundation for educational research (nfer) suggests that 90% of teachers say their pupils are doing less work than would be the usual case for the time of year, while headteachers say a third of pupils are not engaging with the work set for them by their teachers. 17 june speaking to the science and technology committee, lord bethell, the minister for innovation at the department of health and social care, says the contact tracing app is "not a priority" and may not be ready until the winter. health secretary matt hancock is pictured slapping a colleague on the back as they arrived at the house of commons for prime minister's questions, apparently forgetting social distancing measures. 18 june the bank of england announces plans to inject an extra £100bn into the uk economy to help fight downturn precipitated by the pandemic. the uk delays the launch of the contact tracing app, and changes its original format in favour of a model based on technology designed by apple and google. compatibility issues were found between the app's and apple's software, but unlike apple's model the uk app is able to better measure distance, so the plan is to combine aspects of both into a single app. the apple-google model is also less centralised but more secure. the weekly ons household survey estimates that around 33,000 people in england had covid-19 at any given time between 31 may and 13 june, unchanged from the previous week. antibodies were found in 5.4% of 1,757 people who gave blood samples since 26 april. health secretary matt hancock announces that pharmaceutical company astrazeneca and oxford university have reached a deal to begin the manufacture of a potential vaccine, even though it has yet to receive clinical approval. the plan is to stockpile the vaccine ready for its approval. those over the age of 50 and with certain underlying health conditions will then be prioritised for the vaccine once launched. office for national statistics data for the two weeks up to 10 june indicates that of the 14,000 names passed to nhs test and trace for follow up, 10,200 had been contacted. 19 june uk's covid-19 alert levels (introduced in may 2020) the uk's covid-19 alert level is lowered from level 4 (severe risk, high transmission) to level 3 (substantial risk, general circulation), following the agreement of all four chief medical officers. health secretary matt hancock describes the change as "a big moment for the country". figures from the treasury show that uk debt stands at £1.95trn, and is larger than the economy for the first time in 50 years following a record amount of borrowing in may. the amount borrowed in may was £55.2bn, nine times higher than borrowing for may 2019, and the highest monthly amount since records began. 20 june culture secretary oliver dowden and chancellor rishi sunak confirm that the review into the 2m social distancing rule in england will conclude within the coming days. spain's foreign affairs minister arancha gonzález laya announces that uk tourists will be able to visit spain without the need for quarantine from the following day. guernsey lifts the majority of its lockdown restrictions, meaning social distancing measures are no longer required and pubs, restaurants and other businesses can operate at normal capacity. but border controls remain in place. northern ireland records one death in the most recent 24 hour period, but no new cases of covid-19 for the first time since march. 21 june no new covid-19 deaths are recorded for scotland and northern ireland. 22 june a new covid-19 saliva test is trialled in the uk. the uk records its lowest number of new covid-19 cases since the beginning of lockdown with 958 people having tested positive for the virus, the first time the figure has dropped below 1,000; the number of deaths recorded for the previous day stands at 15, the lowest figure since 15 march. the energy regulator ofgem gives energy companies permission to follow up unpaid bills, but warns them not to be aggressive in their pursuit of unpaid debts. 23 june boris johnson leads the uk government's final downing street daily briefing. from now on press briefings will be held whenever there is a significant announcement. doctors have expressed concern that a significant number of covid-19 patients may be left with the permanent lung condition pulmonary fibrosis as a result of the virus, and will need to be monitored for signs of the condition. 24 june scientists at imperial college london begin human trials of a covid-19 vaccine after tests on animals indicate an effective immune response; 300 volunteers will take part in the programme. the british medical journal publishes an open letter from health leaders in which they call on the government to launch an urgent review to determine whether the uk is prepared for what they describe as the "real risk" of a second wave of covid-19. the uk government publishes new advice for businesses on how to safely reopen their premises on 4 july. 25 june in a letter to the british medical journal, a group of senior health academics expresses their concern that covid-19 antibody tests for nhs and care staff are being rolled out without "adequate assessment" and will place the health service under unnecessary strain. as the uk experiences a short heatwave, bournemouth, christchurch and poole council declares a major incident after as many as half a million people travel to the dorset coast. professor chris whitty, the uk's chief medical officer, warns people to respect social distancing guidelines while enjoying the weather or the number of covid-19 cases "will rise again". the weekly ons household survey for 8–21 june estimates that new infections were occurring at a rate of 22,000 per week, and notes that the decline seen between mid-may and early june has "levelled off". the uk government announces plans to relax rules for england and wales allowing pubs and restaurants to utilise outdoor spaces such as terraces, pavements and car parks, while outdoor markets and fetes will no longer need planning permission. 26 june prime minister boris johnson warns that the uk could be set back if people continue to ignore social distancing rules as those who visited the south coast the previous day have done. professor neil ferguson, a former government scientific adviser, says he does not believe a second national lockdown would be necessary, but instead would expect to see "targeted" measures to deal with outbreaks. research published by the university of oxford's centre for evidence-based medicine shows that the proportion of covid hospital patients dying each day in england has fallen from 6% to 1% between april and june. in terms of numbers, 15,468 people were in hospital in england of which 899 died (6%) on 8 april, compared to 2,698 hospital patients on 21 june, 30 of which died (1%). intu properties, owner of many of the uk's largest shopping centres, goes into administration because of the