been "obvious" to him. in response johnson says that none of the evidence shows he "knowingly" misled parliament, and that "it is clear from this report that i have not committed any contempt of parliament". office for national statistics data for the week up to 21 february indicates that covid-19 infections were increasing in england and wales, but decreasing in northern ireland, while the situation in scotland was uncertain. in england, the number of people testing positive for covid-19 was estimated to be 1,298,600 (roughly 2.31% of the population around 1 in 45). 4 march – leaked whatsapp messages published by the daily telegraph indicate matt hancock and his staff deliberated over whether or not he had broken covid-19 regulations after pictures of him kissing his aide, gina coladangelo, were published by the sun newspaper. in another conversation, the messages show hancock criticising the eat out to help out scheme for "causing problems" in areas where there were a nigh number of covid-19 cases. 5 march – news outlets including bbc news, sky news and the independent (who have not verified the messages) report that further whatsapp messages published by the telegraph appear to show discussions about how and when the government should reveal details of the kent covid-19 variant in order to ensure people would comply with the regulations. the news outlets also says hancock appears to suggest they should "frighten the pants off everyone", while in another conversation, head of the civil service simon case suggests the "fear/guilt factor" was an important element of the government's messaging. the telegraph also reports messages showing ministers and civil servants discussing " heavy with the police" to enforce lockdown measures with senior police officers being brought into number 10 to be told to be stricter with the public. moderna announces harwell, oxfordshire as the location of its new innovation and technology centre, a research and development facility which will be built by 2025. 6 march – the telegraph publishes messages that are reported to have been exchanged between allan nixon, a parliamentary advisor and hancock from november 2020 in which they discuss threatening to cancel projects in mps constituencies if mps do not support the local lockdown tiers legislation. it is also reported that as part of a strategy aimed at trying to stop mps from rebelling against the legislation, party whips compiled a spreadsheet of 95 mps who disagreed with this policy and the reasons for them disagreeing; these related to lack of parliamentary scrutiny, economic harm, harms to hospital, absence of cost benefit analysis and the policy being "unconservative". 7 march – the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation recommends that everyone over 75, care-home residents and anyone considered to be extremely vulnerable aged five and over will be offered a spring covid-19 booster vaccine. vaccinations will begin in march in scotland, early april in england and wales, and mid-april in northern ireland. 8 march – in what is believed to be the first case of its kind in the uk, the widow of a nurse who died as a result of covid-19 is to sue the national health service in wales. linda roberts, the widow of gareth roberts, who had type 2 diabetes, plans the legal action after a coroner found that he died as a result of "industrial disease". 9 march – the uk health security agency announces that the covid-19 infection survey run by the office for national statistics, which collects results from swabs and blood tests from a sample of households, will be paused from the middle of the month. a study published in the british medical journal suggests people's mental health was not adversely affected by the covid-19 pandemic, and that most people made the best of a bad situation. 10 march – office for national statistics data for the week ending 28 february indicates covid-19 cases are rising in scotland, but the picture is unclear in the rest of the uk. in england, the number of people testing positive for covid-19 was estimated to be 1,333,400, equating to 2.38% of the population, or around 1 in 40 people. in scotland, the figure was 128,400, equating to 2.44% of the population or around 1 in 40 people. 16 march – office for national statistics data for the week ending 7 march (6 march in scotland) indicates covid-19 cases are falling in scotland, but the picture is uncertain in the rest of the uk. in england, the survey suggests that 1,322,000 tested positive for the virus, equating to 2.36% of the population, or around 1 in 40. 17 march – the association of leading visitor attractions has warned that uk visitor attractions continue to be impacted by the covid-19 pandemic as they experience fewer visitors from overseas. tourists have returned following the pandemic, but not to pre-covid levels. 21 march – a living memorial to the victims of covid-19 and key workers who worked through the pandemic is unveiled at staffordshire's national memorial arboretum. partygate scandal: former prime minister boris johnson publishes a 52-page defence of his actions during the covid-19 pandemic in which he acknowledges parliament was mislead, but says he did not do so intentionally. 22 march – boris johnson gives evidence to the cross-party privileges committee, relating to his conduct during partygate. he insists that he "did not lie" to the house of commons and always made statements in good faith. 23 march – on the third anniversary of the announcement of the uk's first covid-19 lockdown, a minute's silence is held at midday to mark the third national day of reflection. a permanent memorial to those who died during the pandemic, as well as the era's unsung heroes, is unveiled at balm green gardens, near sheffield's barker's pool. 24 march – the final coronavirus infections survey is published by the office for national statistics, with data for the week up to 13 march. it shows an increase in covid-19 cases for england, but an uncertain picture for the rest of the uk. the percentage of cases for the home nations are shown as follows: 2.66% in england (1 in 40 people), 2.41% in wales (1 in 40 people), 1.42% in northern ireland (1 in 70 people), and 2.59% in scotland (1 in 40 people). research led by the university of edinburgh suggests one in 50 people in scotland have had lasting ill-effects after contracting covid-19. 30 march – it is announced that covid-19 testing in england is to be further scaled back from april. staff and patients in hospitals will no longer be routinely swab tested for the virus, with staff only tested if they are in contact with immunocompromised patients. 31 march – the uk health security agency confirms the nhs covid-19 contact tracing app will close on 27 april following a decline in its use. april 2023 2 april – the observer reports that british researchers are in the process of developing a system to monitor genetic changes in respiratory viruses that could be used to identiy new variants and act as an early warning system for new diseases and future pandemics. 3 april – nhs england launches its spring booster campaign, which will see around five million people, including those aged over 75 or classed as clinically vulnerable, receive a covid-19 booster vaccine. 5 april – travellers arriving in england from china are no longer required to provide a pre-departure negative covid-19 test. 11 april – figures published by the office for national statistics show that covid-19 is no longer the leading cause of death in england and wales. the figures show it the sixth major cause of death for 2022, having been the main cause of death for 2020 and 2021. 14 april – data from the zoe health study indicates cases of covid-19 are at their highest in the north of england, with concern about a new arcturus variant of the virus. 19 april – an inquest into the death of stephen wright, a 32-year-old nhs psychologist who died from a blood clot on the brain ten days after receiving the oxford–astrazeneca covid-19 vaccine in january 2021, rules his death occurred as a result of "unintended complications of the vaccine". wright's wife, charlotte, is one of several people taking legal action against astrazeneca, and had wanted the cause of death listed on his death certificate changed. 22 april – a study published by swansea university indicates there was no benefit to clinically vulnerable people from shielding during the covid-19 pandemic. the study, which compared 117,000 people advised to shield during the pandemic with the rest of wales's population of three million, shows a higher number of deaths and healthcare usage among those who shielded. 24 april – highlands and islands airports ltd reports that its passenger numbers have almost returned to pre-covid levels, with 1.5 million people using its 11 airports in 2022–23, compared to 1.6 million in 2019–20. a bbc investigation finds that roughly one third of the £594m that was earmarked for national tutoring programme, launched to help children catch up after the pandemic, has gone unspent by the treasury, with schools forced to make up the shortfall from their own budgets. 27 april – the nhs covid-19 contact tracing app closes following a decline in its use. in a written statement to parliament, prime minister rishi sunak confirms that baroness heather hallett, the chair of the uk covid-19 inquiry, will sit without a panel, as this will be the "most efficient and swift" way to conduct the investigation. may 2023 5 may – the world health organisation declares that covid-19 no longer represents a "global health emergency", something regarded as a major step towards ending the pandemic. 9 may – the broadcasting regulator, ofcom, finds the tv channel, gb news, in breach of broadcasting regulations over its october 2021 edition of mark steyn's programme in which it was claimed the covid-19 vaccination programme in the united kingdom amounted to "mass murder". the regulator finds that gb news did not do enough to protect its viewers from harmful content, and rules that gb news must now attend a meeting with ofcom.