were reported as testing critical workers and people at risk, in areas with "significant" demand. following the government's announcement of a target of 100,000 coronavirus tests to be carried out per day, the armed forces helped deploy and operate mobile testing units. education following cases in italy, the cransley school in northwich, cheshire, and trinity catholic college in middlesbrough closed, as some of their pupils had returned with symptoms from italy. fourteen schools in england had closed by 28 february. loughborough university reported a student confirmed to have the virus after recent travel to italy, and indicated that several staff members and students began self-isolation. cambridge university closed all buildings from 20 march, which was criticised by the local ucu as students from countries with weaker healthcare provisions would be forced to return home. more than a thousand cambridge students signed an open letter requesting alternatives to cancelled examinations in cambridge, including the option to retake the year in 2020–21. coventry university first suspended all graduation ceremonies due to be held in march and april, and from 20 march, suspended all face-to-face teaching, in favour of on-line delivery. many other higher education institutions took similar steps at around the same time. all uk schools closed by 20 march 2020 for an indefinite period of time, except for children of key workers and vulnerable children. gcse and a level exams were cancelled, an unprecedented action in uk educational history, with results awarded using predicted grades and teacher assessment. on 16 april the department for education said these grades would be published on their original intended dates, 13 august for a levels and 20 august for gcses. in scotland it was announced that exams would not take place and coursework would not be marked for national 5, higher and advanced higher courses with teachers estimating grades. on 7 may welsh government minister kirsty williams ms, announced that schools in wales would not reopen on 1 june. events on 23 march, pride in london, the uk's largest lgbt pride festival, scheduled for 27 june, was postponed. it was one of more than a hundred pride events to be postponed or cancelled in the uk. on 3 april, brighton pride, scheduled for saturday 1 august, was cancelled. on 6 april the orange lodge of ireland announced that the traditional twelfth of july parades in northern ireland had been cancelled. the national ve day 75th anniversary events planned for 8 to 10 may were cancelled. law and order further information: xenophobia and racism related to the covid-19 pandemic § united kingdom a poll published on 20 march concluded that 23% of british adults were strictly following the government's coronavirus advice. in march police forces in each nation of the uk were given powers to arrest and fine citizens who broke lockdown rules. the national police chiefs' council said police had issued their first fines for people breaking lockdown rules on 27 march. the fixed penalty notices were £60 but would be reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days. by 31 march, some police forces and individual officers, were being criticised by a variety of people including, former supreme court judge lord sumption, former justice secretary david gauke, former chancellor george osborne and privacy and civil liberties group big brother watch for over-zealous and incorrect application of the new powers. police had put black dye into harpur hill quarry and using a drone, filmed people before posting the images on social media. new guidance to "engage, explain, encourage and enforce" was released by the national police chiefs council. a group of people in london, 8 april 2020 according to data from the national police chiefs' council, around 9,000 people were issued fines for breaking lockdown rules in england and wales, between 27 march and 27 april. national police chiefs’ council figures from 27 march to 11 may (the date when fines in england increased) showed that more than 14,000 fines were issued for breaking lockdown rules in england and wales. there were 862 repeat offenders in the figures with one person fined 9 times. the easter weekend (11 and 12 april) had the highest amount of fines issued within the period. the crown prosecution service stated 56 people were wrongly charged, mainly due to welsh regulations being applied in england and vice versa. in the first two weeks of the coronavirus police powers being introduced more than 500 fixed penalty notices were issued in scotland. police scotland figures from 6 april to 6 may showed that there had been 21,487 breaches of lockdown rules. the figures highlighted that people were attracted to rural beauty spots with two areas loch lomond and stirling in the top five areas of scotland for breaches. when caught breaking lockdown black people were given fines twice as often as white people by the metropolitan police. there have been reports of hate incidents against italian and chinese persons and a singaporean student was assaulted in london in an attack that police linked to coronavirus fears. in addition there have been reports of young people deliberately coughing and spitting in the faces of people, including an incident involving health workers. on 9 may, police broke up an anti-lockdown protest took place in london consisting of around 40 people. it was thought to be the first such protest in the uk following protests in other nations. it was reported that around 60 protests had been planned on the weekend of the 16 may, with police saying that they were preparing to break them up. protests took place in belfast, glasgow, london and southampton, with several protesters arrested and fined at the london demonstration. following a conspiracy theory regarding 5g mobile phone masts, 77 mobile phone masts were attacked across the country, including the one serving nhs nightingale hospital in birmingham. philip jansen, the chief executive of bt, said that 39 engineers had been physically or verbally assaulted by members of the public, with some also receiving death threats. the trade union the communication workers union stated that they had received 120 reports of workers being abused. fraud following the commencement of the job retention scheme, there had been over 800 reports of fraudulent claims by mid-may. employers were accused of claiming whilst still having employees attend work. during the contact tracing app trial on the isle of wight the chartered trading standards institute found evidence of a phishing scam. in the scam recipients would receive a text stating that they had been in contact with someone with covid-19 and were directed to a website to input their personal details. the national cyber security centre had taken down over 2,000 examples of fraud during march and april. local councils found fake goods being sold including testing kits, face masks and hand sanitiser. there had also been reports of scams involving the replacement school meals scheme and incidents of people posing as government officials and council workers depending on their target along with fake it workers. benefit officials said that up to £1.5 billion could have been lost due to fraudulent benefit claims. courts and prisons on 17 march, trials lasting longer than three days were postponed until may in england and wales, while scottish courts were not starting any new trial indefinitely. in england and wales those cases already running would continue in the hope of reaching a conclusion. following the supsension of all new trials due to the pandemic, law reform charity justice led a series of mock virtual trials to examine viability and safety. the government released specific guidance to prisons in the event of coronavirus symptoms or cases, specifically the rule that "any prisoner or detainee with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature should be placed in protective isolation for 7 days". there are around 83,000 prisoners in england and wales. on 24 march, the ministry of justice announced that prison visits would be suspended and that inmates would be confined to their cells. to maintain communication between prisoners and their families, the government promised 900 secure phones to 55 prisons, with calls being monitored and time-limited. in a committee meeting on the same day, justice secretary robert buckland suggested that 50 pregnant inmates might be given early release, and another 9,000 inmates awaiting trial could be transferred to bail hostels. on 14 april, the ministry of justice ordered 500 modular buildings, reportedly adapted from shipping containers, to provide additional single prison cell accommodation at seven jails: hmps north sea camp, littlehey, hollesley bay, highpoint, moorland, lindholme and humber. following a covid-19 case in hmp manchester, public services think tank reform called for the release of 2,305 "low-risk" offenders on short sentences to reduce the risk of coronavirus on the prison population. similar actions have been taken in iran and the united states. former justice secretary david gauke echoed similar sentiments, citing the "churn" of prisoners going in and out of prison as a risk. up to 4,000 prisoners in england and wales are to be released. amnesty international's europe deputy director of research said that authorities in uk should consider releasing those who are more vulnerable to covid-19. on 18 march, the first coronavirus case was reported within the uk prison population. the prisoner, who had been serving time in hmp manchester (commonly referred to as strangeways), was moved to a hospital. while no other prisoners or staff tested positive for the virus, thirteen prisoners and four members of staff were put into isolation as a precaution. on 26 march, it was reported that an 84-year-old sex offender had died from covid-19 on 22 march at hmp littlehey in cambridgeshire, becoming the first inmate in the uk to die from the virus. on 28 april, public health england had identified around 2,000 "possible/probable" and confirmed covid-19 cases; outbreaks had occurred in 75 different institutions, with 35 inmates treated in hospital and 15 deaths. in mid-may the scottish prison service said that six inmates who had died were suspected to have had covid-19. on 19 july, the ministry of justice announced the creation of ten temporary courts for england and wales, to help cope with the backlog of cases. immigration centres during mid-march, 300 people were released from immigration detention centres because of the pandemic following a campaign by charities concerned with an outbreak of covid-19 in the centres. on 25 march, it was reported that three immigration detention centres had reported cases of people with coronavirus. on 2 april, a letter leaked from g4s, a company running immigration detention centres for the home office, said detainees who were at high risk from covid-19 were being put in solitary confinement. politics this section is an excerpt from political impact of the covid-19 pandemic § united kingdom. a rehearsal for hybrid remote and in-person procedures in the uk's house of commons to reduce the spread of covid-19 among parliamentarians in april 2020. the british government response to the covid-19 pandemic has been politically controversial, in particular the level of preparedness and the early response to the outbreak and timing of subsequent lockdowns in autumn and winter 2020 that whether they influenced country's high death toll. shortages of personal protective equipment (ppe) for health workers, as well as some supplies of ppe later procured proving to be inadequate, attracted controversy during the early months of the pandemic. a public inquiry into the government's handling was announced in may 2021 to take place in 2022 after demands from pressure group covid-19 bereaved families for justice. in may 2020, the actions of boris johnson's senior aide, dominic cummings, were the subject of a political scandal as he was accused of breaking lockdown rules while experiencing symptoms of covid-19. johnson's defence of him, and cummings' public press conference to defend his innocence both attracted criticism, as was the eventual rejection of widespread calls for cummings to resign over the breach. cummings left the government in late 2020, and subsequently criticised the government's response to the pandemic, including in a seven-hour testimony to the commons heath, and science and technology committees in may 2021. the reception for the leadership and conduct of prime minister boris johnson during the pandemic has been mixed. he was alleged to have said he would rather "let the bodies pile high" than enact a second national lockdown in