the "headlong" rush to end covid measures in schools could lead to a further disruption of children's education. 24 february – all domestic legal covid restrictions are officially lifted in england. the requirement for face masks to be worn on transport for london services is also removed. march 2022 1 march – the uk government confirms the lifting of compulsory vaccines for care home workers in england from 15 march. the clinical commissioning group (ccg) serving wiltshire, swindon and bath has expressed its concern at the low number of five to eleven-year-olds classed as clinically at risk taking up their offer of a covid vaccine, with 4.7%, or 250 out of 5,300 eligible children having received a vaccine. 11 march – a report published by the house of commons education select committee highlights the "devastating" impact of england's school closures during the pandemic, which it says is leading to greater inequality, with yorkshire and the humber and the north east of england the most seriously affected areas. 15 march – a study has highlighted what the royal college of psychiatrists has described as the unprecedented demand for mental health services, with the number of referrals for specialist nhs mental health care reaching a record high in england by the end of 2021. figures from nhs digital indicate some 4.3 million referrals had been made due to mental health issues by the end of that year. the cheltenham festival begins, with crowds allowed to attend for the first time since 2020. 18 march – the health protection (coronavirus, international travel and operator liability) (england) regulations 2021, the last coronavirus-related legal restrictions in effect in england, are revoked. 21 march – nhs england launches its spring booster programme, offering a booster vaccine to 600,000 people aged over 75, who are residents in a care home, and those aged over 12 considered to be medically vulnerable. 21 march – nhs england launches its spring booster programme, offering a booster vaccine to 600,000 people aged over 75, who are residents in a care home, and those aged over 12 considered to be medically vulnerable. england's deputy chief medical officer, professor jonathan van-tam, is granted the freedom of his home town of boston, lincolnshire. 29 march – the uk government publishes the list of those in england who will still be eligible for free lateral flow tests from 1 april. they are as follows: nhs staff patients in hospital, where a pcr test is required for their care people who are eligible for community covid drug treatments because they are at higher risk of getting seriously ill care home residents people working in some high-risk settings, including care homes and prisons. 31 march – monitoring of wastewater for fragments of the sars-cov-2 virus ceases. april 2022 2 april – low-dose vaccines for covid-19 become available for children aged five to 11 in england, with five million eligible. a second dose is recommended after 12 weeks. 5 april – figures released by the uk government show the number of absences from school in england because of covid are stabilising, with 179,000 pupils (about 2.2%) absent on 31 march, down from 202,000 (about 2.5%) in mid-march. 7 april – hospitals in england are under "enormous strain", with some so busy they are having to divert ambulances to other sites; 20 hospitals have issued such instructions in the past week. 19 april – patients waiting in nhs hospitals, gp surgeries and emergency departments in england are no longer required to socially distance. 27 april – the high court of england and wales rules that the uk government's policies on discharging untested patients from hospital to care homes in england at the start of the pandemic was unlawful because they failed to take into account the potential risk of covid-19 to elderly and vulnerable people. may 2022 18 may – england's former deputy chief medical officer, professor sir jonathan van-tam, has missed the ceremony at which his knighthood was due to be given after becoming infected with covid-19. 25 may – figures reveal that almost 4,000 passengers were fined for not wearing face coverings on the london transport network when it was mandatory to do so. 28 may – a 20m memorial to people who died from coronavirus is ceremonially burned in an event at the miners' welfare park in bedworth, warwickshire, attended by thousands of people. the idea of raising the sculpture, titled sanctuary, to the ground is an attempt to "help people heal". june 2022 no events. july 2022 15 july – the england women's national football team manager, sarina wiegman, has tested positive for covid-19 shortly before england's euro 2022 final group game against northern ireland. august 2022 6 august – brighton and hove pride returns for the first time since the pandemic, having been cancelled in 2020 and 2021. 9 august – figures published by nhs england indicate the number of people in england waiting more than two years for routine surgery has fallen from 22,500 at the start of 2022, to less than 200. 12 august – the first annual boomtown festival to be held post-pandemic, opens in hampshire, having been cancelled in 2020 and 2021. 14 august – the crown prosecution service confirms that six people who were charged with breaching lockdown rules after attending demonstrations in the wake of the march 2021 murder of sarah everard will not be prosecuted. 24 august – the uk government announces that most hospital patients and care home residents in england will no longer be required to take covid-19 tests, although new admissions into both will continue to be tested. free lateral flow tests for health and social care staff will also end from 31 august. september 2022 5 september – the deployment of the autumn 2022 covid-19 booster programme begins in england, with care home residents and people who are housebound the first to be offered the vaccine. october 2022 13 october – the latest health figures show that hospital waiting lists in england have reached seven million, their highest since records began. a sheffield woman who held a rave during one of the covid-19 lockdowns has had her case withdrawn by the crown prosecution service. 18 october – nhs england warns that up to half of its hospital beds could be taken up with patients suffering respiratory problems because of a "twindemic" of covid-19 and flu over the coming winter. november 2022 7 november – analysis by bbc news has indicated a 10% rise in the number of five- and six-year-olds in england requiring speech therapy in the past year, something that experts partially attribute to the effect of the covid-19 lockdowns. 16 november – ben hamilton, a county durham businessman who claimed a £25,000 bounce back loan in may 2020 then dissolved his business the following day is given a 15-month suspended sentence after admitting to fraud at a hearing at teesside magistrates' court. december 30 december – the uk government confirms that passengers arriving in england from china will need to provide a negative covid test before boarding their flight when china fully reopens its borders on 8 january.