0.25% of the population, had covid-19 at any given time between 4 may and 17 may (excluding those in hospitals, care homes or other institutions). this implies around 8,700 new infections per day, compared to the 10,000 estimate made two weeks ago. itv announces that its soap emmerdale has started a "phased return to filming" with six new episodes being recorded at its studios in leeds. the uk stages its ninth weekly clap for our carers event at 8pm. 22 may the government unveils new quarantine rules for travellers to the uk that will require them to self-isolate for fourteen days from 8 june. the scientific advisory group for emergencies publishes its evidence on the safety and impact of reopening schools on 1 june. it says the risk to school pupils is "very, very small, but it is not zero", while the risk to teachers is not above average when compared to other occupations. the office for national statistics reports that government borrowing rose to £62bn in april, the highest monthly figure on record, after heavy spending to ease covid-19 crisis. guernsey announces plans to move to stage four of its lockdown restrictions from 30 may, six weeks earlier than originally planned. this will allow restaurants and cafes, hairdressers and beauticians, cinemas, gyms and sports venues to reopen. the announcement comes after the island had 22 consecutive days with no new covid-19 cases. schools on the island will also reopen for all students on 8 june. annemarie plas, credited as starting the weekly clap for our carers, suggests it should end after its tenth week as the public have shown their appreciation, and should instead become an annual celebration of frontline workers. 23 may the french government announces that travellers to france from the uk will have to quarantine for 14 days from 8 june. the death of a 12-year-old child is reported. dominic cummings, boris johnson's chief political adviser, comes under mounting pressure to resign after a joint investigation by the daily mirror and the guardian reported that he travelled 260 miles from london to durham to self-isolate during lockdown. in response to the story, downing street says that cummings travelled to the north east to be near relatives who could look after his young son if he became ill himself. transport secretary grant shapps announces £283m of investment in buses and light rail services in order to help improve safety, but warns capacity will be at a fifth of pre-lockdown levels because of social distancing measures. extra martials at stations from 1 june are also announced, as well as permission for ten rail reopening projects to proceed to make business cases under the "reversing the beeching cuts" initiative. 24 may after the observer and the sunday mirror print allegations that dominic cummings made a second trip to the north east during lockdown, boris johnson gives his chief aide his backing at the downing street daily briefing, saying that cummings had "no alternative" but to travel for childcare "when both he and his wife were about to be incapacitated by covid-19" and has "acted responsibly, legally and with integrity". johnson describes some of the claims as "palpably false". johnson also confirms plans (outlined on 10 may) for the phased reopening of schools in england from 1 june: from that date, they will reopen for early years pupils, reception, year 1 and year 6. for the first time he states that from 15 june a quarter of year 10 and year 12 students will be allowed "some contact" to help prepare for exams. 25 may dominic cummings says "i don't regret what i did" as he gives a detailed explanation of his actions during lockdown at a press conference in the downing street rose garden. education secretary gavin williamson warns the virus "could be with us for a year or more" and children cannot stay off school for "months and months". 26 may for the first day since 18 march, no new covid deaths are reported in northern ireland. robin swann, the northern ireland health minister, describes it as "a clear sign of progress". death registration figures for the week ending 15 may show the lowest number of covid-19 deaths since the beginning of april. remdesivir, a drug that can speed up the recovery time of patients with covid-19, is made available through the nhs. douglas ross resigns as a junior minister with the scotland office over the uk government's defence of dominic cummings, while at least 35 conservative mps call for cummings to be removed from his post. tate britain announces that the annual turner prize will not be awarded in 2020 because of the upheaval created by the covid outbreak. 27 may boris johnson states that a test and trace system will be operational in england from the following day. johnson appears before the house of commons liaison committee where he rules out holding an inquiry into the actions of dominic cummings. figures from hm treasury indicate covid-19 job retention scheme for furloughed workers in the uk now covers 8.4 million people, an increase from 8 million a week earlier. 28 may contact tracing systems go live in england and scotland – nhs test and trace in england, and test and protect in scotland. however, dido harding tells mps the system in england will not be "fully operational at a local level" until the end of june. the weekly household survey by the office for national statistics reports that around 133,000 people in england had covid-19 at any given time during 11–24 may, and estimates the rate of new infections to be around 54,000 per week. both numbers are similar to the previous estimates, indicating that the number of infections is "relatively stable". a meeting of the four national chief medical officers decides that the alert level should remain at 4, although boris johnson had said the previous day that he hoped it would come down to 3. durham police say that dominic cummings may have made a "minor breach" of lockdown rules during his visit to barnard castle, but no offence was committed. easyjet announces plans to cut 4,500 jobs because of the effects of the covid-19 outbreak on business. the tenth and final clap for our carers event is staged at 8pm. 29 may chancellor rishi sunak announces that covid-19 job retention scheme will end at the end of october. before then, employers must pay national insurance and pension contributions from august, then 10% of pay from september, increasing to 20% in october. self-employed people whose work has been affected by the outbreak will receive a "second and final" government grant in august. 30 may some government scientific advisers warn of the risk associated with lifting lockdown restrictions in england too early, citing the still high number of cases and deaths. in response the government says it is following the data and evidence when making its decisions about the restrictions. professor jonathan van-tam tells the downing street briefing that britain is at a "dangerous moment" and people must be "sensible and proportionate". at the downing street daily briefing culture secretary oliver dowden announces that competitive sport will be allowed in england behind closed doors from 1 june, with individual sporting bodies left to decide when to restart. horse racing will be one of the first sporting activities to resume. conservative mps urge boris johnson to revise the 2 metre social distancing rule to 1.5 metres amid concerns for the hospitality industry. 31 may the uk exceeds its target to increase testing capacity to 200,000 tests a day by the end of may, with 205,634 available for 30 may. 1 june the health protection (covid-19, restrictions) (england) (amendment no. 3) regulations 2020 (si 558) come into effect, again without prior parliamentary scrutiny. car and caravan showrooms, outdoor sports amenities and outdoor non-food markets may reopen. the prohibitions on leaving home are replaced by a prohibition on staying overnight away from home, with certain specific exceptions. gatherings of people from more than one household are limited to six people outdoors and are prohibited entirely indoors, with exceptions including education. there are further exemptions for elite athletes. 2 june figures from the office for national statistics show the number of covid-19 deaths to be at their lowest since march, with 2,872 death certificates mentioning the condition during the week up to 22 may. the guardian has calculated the uk death toll from covid-19 is 50,032. meanwhile, reuters give the figure as 49,646. david norgrove, chair of the uk statistics authority, rebukes matt hancock in an escalation of his 11 may criticism of the government's handling of testing data, saying the figures are "still far from complete and comprehensible" and appear to be aimed at showing "the largest possible number of tests, even at the expense of understanding". mps vote to end the practice of voting from home, but some politicians criticise the move for excluding those unable to attend parliament due to age or health reasons. in response, jacob rees-mogg, the leader of the house, says he will schedule a motion for the following day that will enable them to question the government but not to vote. water companies urge people to conserve water during the lockdown restrictions by not using sprinklers and hosepipes, or filling paddling pools. the advice follows a record dry spring coupled with more people spending time at home. the royal shakespeare company announces it has called off performances planned for the summer, autumn and winter because of the covid-19 outbreak. the england and wales cricket board confirms england will play three test matches against the west indies starting on 8 july. the uk government is to scale back its daily downing street briefings to weekdays only, citing low viewing figures at weekends. boris johnson will also commit to leading one briefing per week. 3 june home secretary priti patel confirms plans to introduce a 14-day quarantine for new arrivals into the uk. those who break the quarantine conditions in england will face fines of £1,000 and potential prosecution. business secretary alok sharma is tested for covid-19 and self-isolates at home after looking visibly ill during a house of commons debate. he subsequently tests negative for the virus. as the uk begins a period of wetter weather, boris johnson urges people not to move gatherings indoors if it rains. 4 june debenhams announces plans to reopen three stores in northern ireland from 8 june, followed by 50 in england a week later. research by king's college london has suggested that half the uk population has struggled with sleep during lockdown. 5 june the number of recorded deaths passes 40,000 after rising by 357 to 40,261. the british medical association urge the uk government to extend the rules regarding the wearing of face covering to all situations where social distancing is not possible. sir patrick vallance, the uk's government chief scientific adviser, says the r number is between 0.7 and 0.9, but could be as high as 1 in some areas of england. his comments come after figures from the office for national statistics suggest the reproductive rate is between 0.7 and 1 for england. the weekly household survey by the office for national statistics reports that around 53,000 people (95% confidence: 25,000 to 99,000) in england had covid-19 at any given time during 17–30 may, and estimates the rate of new infections to be around 39,000 per week, down from 54,000 the previous week. their estimates are based on small numbers: 21 positive results from just under 20,000 swab tests. the uk government's ban on tenant evictions in england and wales is extended by two months to 23 august. health secretary matt hancock urges people not to breach lockdown rules by attending protests planned for the forthcoming weekend. several are planned by the organisation black lives matter following the murder of george floyd in the united states. 6 june anti-racism demonstrations are held in cities across the uk; attendees are reported to be in the thousands. robert jenrick announces that places of worship will be allowed to open for individual prayer on 15 june. 7 june no new deaths are recorded for scotland or northern ireland over the most recent 24 hour period; it is the first time scotland has recorded no new