housing minister robert jenrick announces a temporary waiver of planning restrictions on monday–saturday shopping hours during december and january. environment secretary george eustice attracts media attention after suggesting pubgoers in the new tier 2 could order a scotch egg with their drink, which would count as a substantial meal. singer rita ora apologises after breaching lockdown rules to celebrate her 30th birthday at a london restaurant. december 2020 a sign seen in manchester in december, 20201 december – mps vote 291–78 in favour of introducing england's tough new covid tier system, with 55 backbench conservatives voting against the government, while another 16 abstain. the uk government announces that relatives of people in care homes in england can visit if they receive a negative covid-19 test. prime minister boris johnson announces that pubs forced to close under the new tier system because they do not serve food will be given £1,000 compensation. stratford-on-avon district council will seek a judicial review into the government's decision to place it into tier 3 of the new covid restrictions. 2 december – england's second lockdown ends at 12.01am, and the second tier system is adopted. gyms, hairdressers and non-essential shops are allowed to reopen. students in england will have a staggered return to university over five weeks after the christmas holidays in order to reduce covid transmission. fans are allowed to return to english football league grounds for the first time since march, with spectators attending six venues. up to 1,000 fans are allowed into luton and wycombe, while carlisle, charlton, shrewsbury and cambridge are allowed to admit 2,000. people queue outside a butcher due to covid-19 restrictions4 december – figures from the office for national statistics indicate covid-19 rates are falling in every part of england apart from the north east, with 1 in 105 people having the virus in the week up to 28 november, down from 1 in 85 the week before. councils in greater manchester pause rapid covid testing for care home visitors amid concerns they do not detect enough cases. the lancashire fa suspends grassroots football in parts of the county until january following talks with local health officials. 5 december – gp surgeries will receive supplies of the pfizer/biontech vaccine on 14 december, and have been told to have vaccination centres staffed and ready to deliver the vaccine within three and a half days of that date. following criticism that the mass covid testing introduced to tier 3 areas may not be accurate, dr susan hopkins, chief medical adviser to nhs test and trace, defends the tests, saying they could identify many cases of infection in people without symptoms. a christmas market has opened in nottingham despite concerns from some residents it could lead to a rise in covid cases. the nottingham winter wonderland was given the go-ahead by nottingham city council after organisers said it was safe. the first weekend following the end of lockdown sees an influx of shoppers to high streets as stores hold pre-christmas sales. in london, police are called to harrod's to deal with a large crowd gathered outside the store; four arrests are made. 6 december – although weekend shopping has returned, figures are reported to be down on 2019. nottingham's christmas market is closed a day after it opened amid concerns it could promote the spread of covid-19. following criticism of its decision to suspend grassroots football in parts of lancashire the day before fixtures were scheduled to go ahead, the lancashire fa defends its eleventh hour decision, saying it communicated the decision as soon as was possible and that its priority is to "protect the community" over christmas. 7 december – england's cricket tour of south africa is abandoned after two members of the team receive positive covid tests. 8 december – health secretary matt hancock urges londoners to adhere to covid-19 regulations as cases rise in london. 9 december – experts have called for london to be placed into tier 3 covid restrictions to avoid a spike in cases over christmas after figures indicated a spike in cases in london on 2 december. 10 december – health secretary matt hancock announces that mass testing will be rolled out for secondary schools in the worst affected areas of london, kent and essex. figures from nhs england show the number of patients in england waiting over a year for routine hospital care is now 100 times higher than before the pandemic. 11 december – figures from the office for national statistics for the week ending 5 december indicate covid cases in england are continuing to fall, apart from in london and the east of england. andy burnham, the mayor of greater manchester, expresses his anger after minutes are released of a sage from the summer in which they urged the government to provide more covid funding for the area. 12 december – in a letter to prime minister boris johnson, nhs providers, the body representing hospital trusts in england, warns that relaxing the covid tier system could result in a third wave of the virus at the busiest time of year for hospitals. mass testing is to be rolled out to 67 tier 3 areas beginning on monday 14 december. thousands of christmas shoppers descend on central london following warnings from sadiq kahn, the mayor of london, and the police that people should respect covid regulations. 14 december – the self-isolation period for contacts of people with confirmed covid-19 is shortened from 14 days to 10 days, and the same change applies to those returning travellers who are required to go into quarantine. health secretary matt hancock announces that london, most of essex and parts of hertfordshire will move to tier 3 restrictions from wednesday 16 december following an increase in covid cases in the south east and the identification of a new strain of the virus that spreads much quicker. after greenwich council writes to headteachers asking them to move classes online amid rising covid cases, education secretary gavin williamson orders the authority to keep schools open or face legal action. greenwich council reverses its decision the following day. 15 december – mass testing of secondary school pupils will be greatly increased in january with the objective of sending fewer people home. pupils who come into contact with someone testing positive for covid-19 will be offered seven days of tests, while teachers will have weekly tests. the test to release scheme begins in england, allowing travellers to pay privately for a covid test five days after arrival, and end their quarantine period if they receive a negative test. but the launch is chaotic as the eleven private firms chosen by the government to administer the tests have teething problems. 16 december london, and parts of essex and hertfordshire, are placed into tier three of england's covid tier system following an increase in case numbers in those areas. 17 december – bedfordshire, buckinghamshire, berkshire and hertfordshire, as well as parts of surrey, east sussex, cambridgeshire and hampshire are to be moved from tier two to tier three from saturday 19 december, while bristol and north somerset will move from tier three to tier two. herefordshire will be moved from tier two to tier one. secondary schools in england will have a staggered return in january 2021 as a mass covid testing programme is introduced; exam pupils will return immediately, with other students facing the prospect of online lessons for the first week. 18 december – prime minister boris johnson says that he hopes to avoid another national lockdown for england, but admits covid cases have risen "very much". it is reported that nearly 90% of hospital beds in england are full and that health trusts face the prospect of suspending non-covid treatment. nicola mason, a head teacher from staffordshire, speaks out about how school staff feel "broken" by last minute demands for them to run testing schemes in secondary schools. 19 december – prime minister boris johnson announces that london, south east and east of england are to go into new tier 4 restrictions from the following day. the rules are mostly the same as the national restrictions in november, with non-essential retail, hairdressers and gyms closing. plans for christmas bubbles are scrapped completely in tier 4, while in the rest of england and wales christmas bubbles are limited to meeting up on christmas day. anti-lockdown protests are held in cities across the country, with police making 27 arrests at a protest in london. 20 december – health secretary matt hancock has claimed that the november lockdown did not work, and cannot say when tier 4 restrictions will be lifted. metropolitan police federation boss ken marsh says the new tier 4 rules do not "make sense" and that police will not "be knocking on people's doors on christmas day" to check whether they are being observed. travel operator tui suspends flights from luton airport because it is in the new tier 4 area. the indian queens half marathon is held in cornwall with around 250 participants. concern is later expressed that all competitors were allowed to start together rather than being staggered to enable better social distancing. 21 december – sir patrick vallance, the uk's chief scientific adviser, suggests that more areas of england will need to go into tier 4 restrictions to combat the new variant of covid-19. health officials in the west midlands and north west advise anyone travelling from tier 4 areas of england or from wales they must self-isolate for ten days in order to help stop the spread of the new variant of covid. 23 december – health secretary matt hancock announces that sussex, oxfordshire, suffolk, norfolk, cambridgeshire, hampshire (except the new forest) and parts of essex and surrey still in tier three are to be moved to tier four restrictions from boxing day. many other areas will move up a tier to tiers two and three. 24 december – researchers at the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine have suggested schools and universities may need to remain closed after christmas to help control the spread of the new variant of covid, as well as tier four restrictions. figures released by the office for national statistics indicate 1 in 85 people in england has covid, with figures for the week to 18 december estimating that almost 650,000 people had the virus, up from 570,000 the previous week. 25 december – residents at a care home in leeds are allowed to meet and embrace relatives for the first time since march following a rapid covid test trial at the home. 26 december – tier four restrictions are extended in england after rules are briefly relaxed for christmas day. 27 december – police break up an illegal rave attended by 100 people in the shudehill area of manchester. government officials have scheduled a meeting for the next day to decide whether to go ahead with the planned reopening of schools in england in january. the london ambulance service is reported to have received as many emergency calls on boxing day as it did at the height of the pandemic in april. 28 december – health officials express concern for the pressure on the health service in england, where 20,426 people are being treated in hospital for covid, an increase from around 19,000 during the previous peak in april. cabinet office minister michael gove says he is confident the staggered return of secondary schools can happen in january. 29 december – an article in the health service journal has claimed that covid patients in london could be transferred to hospitals in yorkshire because of strains on capacity in london. it is reported that covid patients are being treated in ambulances outside hospitals in north east london as pressure grows on health trusts in london. a group of ten people are fined for breach of covid restrictions after being caught playing dominoes in a restaurant in whitechapel, east london. 30 december – tier four measures are extended to more parts of england from midnight, with the midlands, north east, parts of the north west and south west joining london and the south east in the toughest restrictions. secondary schools in much of england will fully return two weeks later than originally anticipated, with exam year pupils returning on