travellers are advised to avoid all but essential travel even though both are to be added to the green list from 19 july. 16 july the uk records 51,870 daily covid cases, the first time the number of daily cases has passed 50,000 since january 2021. fully vaccinated travellers returning to england and wales from france will still be required to quarantine for 10 days after 19 july, it is announced, because of persistent cases of the beta variant. fresh concerns are voiced by manufacturing and health representatives about a potential "surge" in people required to self-isolate, particularly after rules are changed in england and scotland on 19 july, and the uk government is urged to bring forward changes to its rules for self-isolation in england from 16 august. public health england warns of an unseasonable rise in the number of cases of the winter vomiting bug, with 154 cases reported over the preceding five weeks, a rise from the average of 53. the build-up to the 2021 british grand prix begins at silverstone, with 350,000 expected to attend the event over the weekend. the green man festival, one of the largest in wales, is given the go-ahead to be staged from 19–22 august. 17 july the uk government's eleventh hour decision to exclude fully vaccinated travellers arriving from france from forthcoming changes to quarantine rules attracts criticism from holidaymakers and travel sector representatives, an example being easyjet boss johan lundgren, who says the government are "making it up as they go along and causing confusion and uncertainty". health secretary sajid javid confirms he has tested positive for covid-19 and is self-isolating. as the uk experiences a second day in which more than 50,000 new covid cases are recorded, the uk government confirms that all adults in the uk have been offered a first vaccine. around 88% have had their first vaccine and 68% their second. 18 july supermarkets are warning they may have to reduce opening hours or even close some branches temporarily, and of a potential shortage of food, as the number of staff being "pinged" by the nhs covid-19 app, and therefore forced to self-isolate, rises. the situation has been described as a "pingdemic". prime minister boris johnson and chancellor rishi sunak are self-isolating after coming into contact with health secretary sajid javid. the pair had initially said they would not self-isolate as they were taking part in a pilot scheme involving daily covid tests, but announced they would self-isolate following criticism from opposition politicians. the national institute for health research is to contribute £20m of funding towards 15 studies into the condition of long covid and its potential causes and treatments. communities secretary robert jenrick confirms a decision regarding the vaccination of under 18s will be made within days. speaking to the bbc's the andrew marr show, professor neil ferguson claims britain faces a "difficult summer" with as many as 200,000 covid cases a day, and potential restrictions returning for the winter. 19 july the final stage of covid restrictions are lifted in england, allowing nightclubs to reopen and abolishing social distancing rules, with no limits on how many people can meet or attend events, while the wearing of face coverings is recommended but no longer required by law. the date (originally planned for 21 june) was dubbed "freedom day" by some media sources. scotland moves to level zero restrictions, allowing larger numbers of people to meet up indoors, as well as attending weddings and funerals. experts recommend covid-19 vaccine jabs for some under-18s in the uk. this group includes young people who are less than three months short of their 18th birthday, children who are vulnerable to the covid virus and children living with adults who are in a high risk group. iceland and greene king shut sites due to staff being force to isolate by the nhs covid-19 app. prime minister boris johnson announces that fully vaccinated people in critical jobs in england will be able to continue working if told to self-isolate. dominic cummings, the former adviser to prime minister boris johnson, tells the bbc johnson was reluctant to impose a second lockdown in autumn 2020 because he believed the people dying from covid-19 were "essentially all over 80". london north eastern railway announces plans to carry out a review of policy after attracting criticism for saying it would not enforce social distancing rules when trains cross the border from england. social distancing of 1m is still required in scotland. in response to this news, first minister of scotland nicola sturgeon says that a legal review of the 1m rule will be undertaken to establish whether "clarification or tightening" of the rule is necessary. the island of sark confirms it has recorded its first covid case. the infected person, who arrived on the island over the previous weekend, was already self-isolating before testing positive and has not been in contact with any other residents. 20 july empty refrigerated cabinets in a morrisons supermarket in wetherby on 22 july 2021 the uk government says there will be a list of critical workers who are exempt from self-isolation, but that individual companies and organisations can apply to have their employees exempted from doing so. representatives of industries have reacted with dismay to the announcement and questioned whether the scheme is workable. downing street has said it is "crucial" for people to self-isolate if they are alerted by the nhs covid-19 app. the advice comes after business minister paul scully said he would encourage people to self-isolate, but they could make an "informed decision" as to whether or not they choose to isolate. official school attendance figures for england show that 1.7 million pupils (23.3%) were absent from school during the week of 12–16 july. over a million of those absent were off school for covid-related reasons, but only 47,000 of those had actually tested positive for the virus. first minister of scotland nicola sturgeon urges the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation not to rule out giving a covid vaccine to all teenagers. it is reported the uk government is considering making proof of vaccination mandatory for people attending sporting events with more than 20,000 spectators. a union official has claimed that travellers arriving from amber and green list countries may no longer face covid checks on arrival. 21 july labour party leader sir keir starmer self-isolates after one of his children tests positive for covid. at prime minister's questions, boris johnson apologises to companies being affected by a rising number of staff absences due to the pingdemic of alerts from the nhs covid-19 app. he is also urged to apologise for his alleged comments regarding the average age of people dying from covid. a shortage of workers caused by the self-isolation "pingdemic" is reported to be affecting local authorities' ability to carry out refuse collections in some areas of england. bp has said a shortage of lorry drivers is causing temporary fuel issues, something it attributes to staff at a supply depot being asked to self-isolate. mps on the transport committee have heard that a backlog of 1.4 million cases have built up at the dvla as a result of decisions by management. data released by the care quality commission shows that 39,000 of the people who died after testing positive for covid-19 in england between 10 april 2020 and 31 march 2021 were care home residents. nhs workers in england are offered a 3% pay rise "in recognition of unique impact of the pandemic" on them. the bbc proms confirms it will have full-capacity audiences for its concerts, having initially planned to allow 1,000 ticketholders for each performance. organisers of the glastonbury festival confirm they have decided against plans for a one-off event in the autumn "for a number of reasons", but have not elaborated on their decision. 22 july the uk government announces that key workers within the food industry, such as supermarket workers and food manufacturers, will be allowed to take daily covid tests from the following day rather than self-isolating. the announcement comes as supermarkets continue to experience shortages of some products because of the pandemic. figures from public health england show the proportion of people in their 20s testing positive in england has reached a record high, with 1,155 people in every 100,000 from that age group over the preceding week. a bbc investigation has found that the number of people with eating disorders ending up in hospital has increased during the pandemic, with cases in those aged under 20 rising by 50% when compared to 2019–20. 23 july the uk records 36,389 new covid cases, a fall from 20 july when 46,558 cases were recorded, and the third consecutive day on which the number of cases has decreased. the start of england's new daily covid test scheme for food workers is delayed until monday 26 july. three students from st andrew's university who have been fully vaccinated, but received their first vaccinations in england and their second in scotland, have been refused exemption from travel quarantine because nhs scotland has not logged both jabs. england manager gareth southgate has recorded a government-endorsed message urging young people to get vaccinated, telling them it is a chance to "get your freedom back". the 2021 latitude festival, the first major uk music event to be held since the start of the pandemic, gets under way at henham park, suffolk, with 40,000 expected to attend. the four-day event is part of the uk government's events research programme, with festivalgoers required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative covid test. the 2021 tramlines festival gets under way at sheffield, with 120,000 expected to attend over three days. 24 july the scope of england's planned daily covid test scheme for key workers is expanded to include police, fire, border force, transport and freight staff following criticism it did not go far enough. the first parkrun events to be held in england since march 2020 are staged following the lifting of all restrictions. 25 july the number of daily covid cases recorded in the uk continues to fall, with 29,173 new cases recorded, down from 48,161 recorded on 18 july. health secretary sajid javid apologises for his poor word choice after saying the previous day that people should no longer "cower" from covid-19. mps on the public accounts committee release two reports into the covid-19 pandemic, and have warned taxpayers will bear the costs of the crisis "for decades". the royal college of nursing has condemned a "reprehensible" speech made at an anti-lockdown protest in london the previous day in which nursing staff were compared to nazis executed after world war ii. the metropolitan police says it is studying video footage of the speech by former nurse kate shemirani. 26 july the number of daily covid cases falls below 25,000 after a sixth consecutive day of reduced numbers. a total of 24,950 cases are recorded, a drop of 15,000 on the same day the previous week. 27 july the daily number of new infections falls for the seventh day in a row, roughly halving from the previous week to 23,511. however, 131 deaths are reported, the highest figure since march. more workers are to be added to the self-isolation exemption list with a further 1,200 testing sites to be established. prisons, waste management and the armed forces are among the sectors prioritised. the international monetary fund has predicted the uk economy will grow faster than originally expected, so upgrades its forecast. analysis of holiday insurance policies by defaqto highlights the difficulties of having to cancel a holiday after being pinged by the covid-19 app, with nine in ten of the insurers surveyed willing to honour a claim because of a lost holiday resulting from a positive covid test, but only six of those willing to do the same for someone required to self-isolate because of an alert from the contact-tracing app. cabinet office minister michael gove has said that people who turn down a covid vaccine are "selfish" and put others at risk. figures from the office for national statistics show england and wales to have the highest number of weekly covid-related deaths since april 2021, with 216 death certificates mentioning the virus in the week to 16 july. 28 july the