uk government confirms that fully vaccinated us and eu citizens arriving into england from an amber list country will no longer be required to quarantine from 4am on monday 2 august. the changes that international cruises will be able to dock at ports in england from that date. scotland and wales also announce changes to their quarantine rules for fully vaccinated us and eu citizens, making arrivals from amber list countries exempt from having to isolate. prime minister boris johnson tells lbc that the lifting of the remaining restrictions for england on 16 august for fully vaccinated people is "nailed on" and will not need a review. katie rowley, a deaf woman from leeds, wins a legal case against the uk government over a lack of sign language on two of its daily covid-19 briefings, something the judge described as having "served to disempower, to frustrate and to marginalise". richard walker, the boss of iceland, describes the uk government's covid testing scheme to prevent people from self-isolating as a "pointless solution" since it excludes supermarket workers. figures produced by the nationwide building society indicate that the housing market slowed slightly during july as a result of the end of the stamp duty holiday, but is still 10.5% higher than july 2020. 29 july northern ireland eases its quarantine rules for fully vaccinated us and eu citizens from monday 2 august, bringing them into line with england, scotland and wales. appearing in a special edition of bbc radio 1's newsbeat, jonathan van-tam, deputy chief medical officer for england, says that the covid vaccination programme has prevented around 60,000 deaths from the virus, as well as 22 million cases. in the programme, designed to encourage those in the 18 to 25 age bracket to get vaccinated, he says that future lockdowns are less likely as more people are vaccinated against covid. the number of self-isolation alerts from the nhs covid-19 app rose to a new high of 689,313 in the week up to 21 july, 70,000 higher than the previous week. the hospitality industry has been particularly hit by the "pingdemic", with around one in five people employed in that sector self-isolating. it is reported that bar staff are feeling pressured to delete the nhs covid-19 app as a consequence. the welsh government announces that fully vaccinated people who are close contacts of someone testing positive for covid will no longer be required to self-isolate from saturday 7 august. under 18s will also be exempt. figures show there were 1.9 million people on the furlough scheme at the end of june 2021, a fall from the peak of the pandemic when almost nine million people were covered by it. foreign secretary dominic raab says university students will get "advance warning" should they be required to have the vaccine before moving into halls of residence. 30 july the british retail consortium reports that the number of empty shops on uk high streets has continued to grow as retailers struggle with the effects of the covid crisis. as public health england figures reveal a large number of pregnant women remain unvaccinated, england's chief midwife jacqueline dunkley-bent writes a letter to midwives, obstetricians and gp practices telling them they have "a responsibility to proactively encourage pregnant women" to get vaccinated. at a hearing at westminster magistrates court, lewis hughes pleads guilty to assaulting england's chiefmedical officer, professor chris whitty during an incident at london's st james park on 27 june. hughes is sentenced to eight weeks in prison and fined £100. a second man pleads not guilty and iis committed for trial on 23 november. the latest nhs hospital data for england indicates that 23% of patients in hospital with covid were admitted for other reasons. following the welsh government's announcement that fully vaccinated people will no longer be required to self-isolate if they come into contact with someone testing positive for covid-19, labour party leader sir keir starmer urges the uk government to bring forward the date for the same changes in england, which are due to come into effect from 16 august. health officials isuffolk say that 20 people have tested positive for covid-19 while attending the 2021 latitude festival at hexham park. data from the office for national statistics for the week ending 24 july indicates covid rates had risen in the uk, with one in 65 estimated to have the virus in england and northern ireland, with one in 160 infected in wales. however, the ons data also suggests that there are early signs cases may be beginning to fall again in england. 31 july medical experts from nhs england and the mhra are warning that pulse oxygen monitors designed to detect a fall in the level of oxygen in covid patients work less well on dark-skinned people. this is because the device works by shining a light beam through the blood, which could be absorbed by skin pigmentation. 1 august the latest vaccination figures show that 85 million covid vaccinations have been administered in the united kingdom. the uk government announces plans to offer young people incentives to get vaccinated, including discounts on takeaway food and taxi journeys. 2 august plans are announced to tweak the nhs covid-19 app for england and wales so that fewer contacts will be advised to self-isolate. following speculation that the uk could introduce an amber travel list of countries that could change to red list status at short notice, prime minister boris johnson says he wants a "balanced" and "user-friendly" approach to international travel. itv confirms that series 21 of i'm a celebrity...get me out of here! will be filmed in north wales, the second year the show has taken place there because of covid travel restrictions. 3 august scottish first minister nicola sturgeon confirms that most covid restrictions in scotland will be lifted from 9 august. chancellor rishi sunak tells linkedin he believes working from home could impact negatively on young people because of the benefits working in an office environment provides. 4 august france is to be removed from england's amber plus list from sunday 8 august, while other changes are announced. austria, germany, slovenia, slovakia, latvia, romania and norway are moved from the amber list to the green list, while india, bahrain, qatar and the united arab emirates are moved from red to amber. georgia, mexico, la reunion and mayotte are moved from amber to red, while there is no change for spain which remains on the amber list, but with the advice that returnees from that country should take a pcr test. the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation recommends that all 16 and 17-year-olds should receive a covid vaccine. they will be offered their first dose of the pfizer vaccine within weeks, with parental consent to receive the vaccine not required. toy manufacturer mattel unveils a barbie doll of professor dame sarah gilbert, the scientist who designed the oxford–astrazeneca vaccine. 5 august as extra flights are laid on to help bring back an estimated 6,000 british tourists from mexico, prime minister boris johnson and transport secretary grant shapps have defended changes announced to the uk's travel traffic lights system. johnson says the government has to balance people's desire to travel with the "need to protect us against new variants", while shapps says that a new plan to review restrictions every three weeks will make for a "simplified system". wales announces the adoption of travel international travel changes in line with those announced for england the previous day, and that will take effect from sunday 8 august. the number of alerts from the nhs covid-19 app in england and wales fell by 43% in the final week of july in comparison to the previous week, with almost 396,000 people pinged in that week, compared with 690,129 the week before. a government insurance scheme worth £750m is announced to protect music festivals and other live events forced to cancel because of covid. in her first major interview as the new chief executive of nhs england, amanda pritchard says that one in five covid hospital cases are among people aged 18–34, with about 1,000 younger people experiencing serious illness. 6 august people aged 16 and 17 are invited to get their first covid vaccination, with gps surgeries in england advised they can contact this age group, while invitations to book appointments will be sent out in wales. northern ireland are to make walk-in clinic appointments available for those in the age group. 10 downing street says that prime minister boris johnson will not self-isolate after a member of his staff tested positive for covid during a visit to scotland. downing street says johnson was not in close proximity to he person, despite reports to the contrary. the edinburgh fringe festival returns, having been cancelled in 2020 due to covid. 7 august with some exceptions, such as compulsory mask wearing in certain settings, most remaining pandemic related restrictions conclude in wales. 8 august changes to travel rules from france allow fully vaccinated people entering the uk from france exemption from quarantine. health secretary sajid javid asks the competition and markets authority to investigate "excessive" pricing and "exploitative practices" among pcr test firms. scotland unveils its largest ever winter vaccination programme, with four million people set to be offered the flu jab over the coming winter. 9 august the bulk of pandemic related restrictions are removed in scotland. rules that remain include compulsory mask wearing in some locations and restrictions surrounding the administration of schools in the early part of the new academic year. it is confirmed that covid rules for travelling to the uk will be relaxed for around 25,000 delegates scheduled to attend the united nations cop26 climate summit in glasgow in november. business secretary kwasi kwarteng dismisses the suggestion civil servants should be paid less if they continue working from home. his comments come after the daily mail quoted an unnamed cabinet minister, who said it was unfair for those returning to the office not to be paid more. randox, one of the uk's largest suppliers of pcr tests, commits to providing more drop boxes for the tests after pictures of overflowing boxes appeared online. 10 august the latest government figures show that 39,688,566 people (75% of the population) have received both covid vaccines, while a further seven million have received their first vaccine. health secretary sajid javid confirms plans are in place to begin the rollout of a third covid vaccine for the most vulnerable groups beginning in early september. a level results are published for england, wales and northern ireland, with 44.8% achieving a* or a grades. it is the second year that results have been based on teacher assessment, exams having been cancelled because of covid. higher results are published in scotland, with 87.3% achieving a to c grades. 11 august professor adam finn has said the uk is moving "cautiously" down the age groups as it decides how many under-18s should receive the vaccine, because of a "delicate balance" between benefits and risks of vaccination. the annual bloodstock festival returns following its cancellation in 2020 due to covid. 12 august gcse results are published for england, wales and northern ireland, the second year they have been based on teacher assessment because of covid. figures show that a record number of people are waiting for nhs hospital treatment in england, with a total of 5.45 million on waiting lists. data from the office for national statistics shows that the uk economy grew by 4.8% between april and june 2021. the competition & markets authority launches an immediate investigation into the cost of pcr tests following concerns about their pricing and "exploitative practices" among test providers. friedrich joussen, the chief executive of tui, has said that recovery of the uk holiday sector is lagging behind the rest of europe, partially due to the ongoing uncertainty over restrictions on travel abroad. travellers begin to gather for the annual appleby horse fair in cumbria, which was postponed due to covid, and where health officials plan to establish pop-up vaccination centres to ensure they are vaccinated. 13 august the uk government announces that the cost of covid tests for international travellers arriving into the uk will be reduced from £88 to £68. the cost reduction applies to people arriving from