ending 30 october, roughly one person in 90. the uk government accepts a mistake was made during the 31 october downing street briefing after a graph predicting 1,500 daily covid deaths by 8 december is revised down to 1,010, but it says the "underlying analysis" of the threat to the nhs is correct. denmark is removed from the quarantine exemption list as of 4am after danish health authorities discover a mutated strain of covid-19 present in the country's mink population. 7 november non-uk nationals are banned from arriving in the uk from denmark after the discovery of a mutated strain of covid-19 in the country's mink population that is believed to have spread to humans. queen elizabeth ii wears a face covering in public for the first time during a visit to the tomb of the unknown soldier at westminster abbey. the latest tranche of culture recovery fund money is awarded, with £14m awarded to 162 heritage organisations, including st paul's cathedral, which is given £2.1m. 8 november non-uk hauliers are added to the denmark travel ban. scaled back remembrance sunday services take place, including at whitehall which is closed to the public. 9 november the pfizer and biontech covid-19 vaccine is reported to protect 90% of recipients in initial tests from developing covid-19. responding to news of a potential vaccine, prime minister boris johnson tells a downing street press conference the vaccine has "cleared a significant hurdle", but warns it is "very, very early days" and there are "several more hurdles" ahead. transport secretary grant shapps announces the uk is making "good progress" in developing a testing regime to reduce the quarantine period for international arrivals. 10 november health secretary matt hancock announces that the nhs is ready to begin providing the covid vaccine "as fast as safely possible". figures from the office for national statistics show the number of covid-related deaths has exceeded 1,000 for the first time since june, with 1,379 deaths in the week ending 30 october, accounting for 12.7% of uk deaths in that week. figures show that uk unemployment stood at 4.8% in the three months to september 2020, up from 4.5%, as a result of the covid crisis. a group of conservative mps who voted against england's second lockdown have formed the covid recovery group to argue for a different approach to dealing with the virus once restrictions end on 2 december, one that will enable society to "live with the virus". 11 november the uk becomes the fifth country to record 50,000 covid-related deaths after the united states, brazil, india and mexico, when a further 595 deaths take the total to 50,365. a review commissioned by chancellor rishi sunak suggests £1.4bn could be raised by doubling capital gains tax and cutting exemptions, as the government looks for ways of paying off the debt incurred by the covid crisis. a virtual meeting between cabinet minister michael gove and the leaders of the devolved nations has taken place to discuss a strategy for getting students home for christmas. 12 november the uk records a further 33,470 covid-19 cases, the highest daily increase since mass testing began. the uk economy expanded by 15.5% between july and september 2020 as britain came out of the recession caused by the first lockdown, the largest growth percentage since figures began in 1955. but the office for national statistics indicates that gdp is still below pre-covid levels. travellers arriving into the uk from most of greece (except corfu, crete, rhodes, kos and zakynthos) will be required to quarantine for two weeks, effective from 4am on saturday 14 november; qatar, the united arab emirates, laos, the turks and caicos islands, bahrain, chile, iceland and cambodia are all added to the quarantine exemption list. scientists monitoring the zoe covid symptom study app suggest the r number may have dropped below 1 in the uk to around 0.9. emails seen by the bbc suggest the health and safety executive was pressured by the uk government to declare ppe suits bought in april as safe despite them not having been properly tested. 13 november the r number has fallen to between 1.2 and 1.0, while the office for national statistics reports that overall covid cases in england slowed in the week ending 6 november. according to government scientific advisers, the number of children with covid-19 has increased significantly in comparison to the spring, with children often bringing the virus into households. the national education union says it is troubled by the number of children testing positive. 14 november the opposition labour party urges the government to introduce emergency legislation to curb anti-vaccine content online. bakery retailer greggs announces the loss of 820 jobs as a result of a slump in business because of the covid crisis. 15 november professor ugur sahin, co-founder of biontech, says a covid vaccine could halve the transmission rate, and enable life to return to normal by winter 2021–22. professor john edmunds, a member of the scientific advisory group for emergencies, calls for a long-term strategy to balance the epidemic and the economy, saying that encouraging people to visit bars and restaurants then closing them because of a surge in cases is not a "sensible way to run the epidemic". prime minister boris johnson is self-isolating after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for covid-19. 16 november the prime minister, six conservative mps and two political aides are now self-isolating after coming into contact with conservative mp lee anderson, who later tested positive for covid-19. they were all present at a downing street breakfast meeting on 12 november, and were later contacted by nhs test and trace. the uk secures a deal to order 5m doses of a vaccine being developed by us biotechnology company moderna, which has announced tests have shown it to be 95% effective in combating covid-19. a technical glitch with the nhs covid-19 app has prevented a number of iphone users from being able to launch it. the nhs has published a workaround for the issue but has not disclosed the cause of it. 17 november prime minister boris johnson has tested negative for covid-19. figures from the office for national statistics show there have been 70,830 excess deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, while 2,225 deaths mentioning covid were recorded in the week up to 6 november. police chiefs in england and wales temporarily suspend £10,000 fines for gatherings of over 30 people following concern over a disparity between those who pay upfront and those who challenge the fines in court. they have instead advised police forces to issue court summonses for those who break covid restrictions. scientists at the university of cardiff have discovered that mouthwash can destroy covid-19 under lab conditions within 30 seconds, suggesting it may be a potential way of tackling the virus. british airways announces a covid testing programme in partnership with american airlines for passengers travelling on some routes between heathrow and the united states in a bid to have quarantine restrictions lifted by the uk government. legal documents filed in the united states have revealed that a spanish businessman who acted as a go-between to secure ppe for the nhs at the beginning of the pandemic was paid £21m of uk taxpayers' money. 18 november a report by the national audit office has found that suppliers of personal protective equipment (ppe) with political connections were 10 times more likely to be awarded contracts during the covid crisis. in response to the report, prime minister boris johnson says he is "proud" of the way the government obtained supplies of ppe. all four of the home nations are reported to be looking at ways of relaxing covid rules so families from across the uk can spend christmas together. but sage warns that five days of tighter restrictions may be required for every day that regulations are relaxed over the festive period. data released concerning the covid vaccine developed by pfizer and biontech indicate it to be 94% effective in those aged 65 and over, but equally effective in people of all ages and ethnicities. data released by the office for national statistics indicates that loneliness is at its highest since the beginning of the pandemic, with a quarter of the 4,000 people surveyed saying they felt lonely always, often or sometimes, with the figure rising to 34% among those aged 16–29. 19 november the oxford university covid vaccine is reported to show a strong immune response in those in their 60s and 70s, something researchers have described as "encouraging". researchers in the uk and netherlands have found that tocilizumab, a drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, shows promising signs of being able to treat critically ill covid patients in trials. israel, sri lanka, namibia, rwanda, the us virgin islands, uruguay, bonaire, st eustatius and saba and the northern mariana islands are all added to the uk's quarantine exemption list. no countries are removed from the list. fashion retailers peacocks and jaeger go into administration after their owners, edinburgh woollen mill group fails to find a buyer, risking 4,700 jobs. the uk government announces £300m of emergency funding for sports impacted by the absence of spectators. first minister of scotland nicola sturgeon says that governments across the uk face a "difficult balance" over how to approach christmas. 20 november figures from the office for national statistics suggest that covid-19 cases are beginning to plateau in england and scotland, but are still increasing in wales and northern ireland. at a downing street briefing, health secretary matt hancock announces that covid-19 vaccination centres are to be established throughout the uk in preparation for the rollout of a vaccine. these will be in addition to the vaccine being given by gp's surgeries and hospitals. a study of healthcare workers at oxford university hospitals has suggested that covid antibodies are still present in the body six months after infection. 21 november sources have reported that families will be allowed to form extended bubbles for seven days over the christmas period to allow them to spend time together over the festive season. 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. 22 november the observer reports that campaigners are taking legal action against the uk government over its appointment of dido harding, kate bingham and mike coupe to key roles in its tackling of covid-19. chancellor rishi sunak is to announce an extra £3bn for the nhs in the forthcoming spending review, but warns of an "economic shock laid bare" as the country deals with the covid crisis. the home nations give their backing to plans to allow some household mixing "for a small number of days" over christmas. 23 november a large trial of the covid vaccine being developed by the university of oxford indicates it to be 70% effective, but scientists believe that figure can rise to 90% by tweaking the dosage. prime minister boris johnson confirms that england's previous three-tier system of covid regulations will return in a new form 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 second tier status of each region will be reviewed every 14 days, with the regional approach scheduled to last until march 2021. following reports over the previous two days that a "freedom pass" could be introduced to allow people who have tested negative for covid to have greater freedom of movement, johnson says there will be "no forced vaccination" in the uk. an extra £7bn of government funding is announced for nhs test and trace, bringing the total spent on the project so far to £22bn. 24 november the leaders of the uk's four nations agree on plans for christmas that will allow three households to meet up indoors and outdoors for five days from 23 to 27 december. northern ireland will be allowed seven days of relaxed restrictions from 22 to 28