england have also been published by nhs england. due to a processing error, a number of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid-19 test in 2022 were not reported in a timely manner. 2,714 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were added retrospectively. the backlog of deaths has been added to the cumulative total for england and the uk. newly-reported deaths for england and the uk on 6 april 2022 represent the numbers that would have been reported without the extra retrospective deaths. daily counts of deaths in england rely on multiple data sources. data from one source was not included on 12 april 2022 due to delays in receipt and processing. following the technical issue affecting one route of reporting to ukhsa yesterday, today's deaths figures by report date include some deaths that would have been reported on 12 april. deaths by death date are backdated. in line with weekday only reporting, the dashboard will not be updated over the bank holiday weekend. following the update on thursday 14 april, the next update will be on tuesday 19 april. due to a technical issue, public health scotland (phs) has been unable to provide updated data on cases, deaths, tests and hospital admissions. uk totals for cases, deaths and testing by publish date therefore only include updates from england, northern ireland and wales. because of a technical issue, it has only been possible to update figures for cases for england (nation) by report date. in line with weekday only reporting, the dashboard will not be updated over the bank holiday weekend. following the update on 29 april, the next update will be 3 may. due to a technical issue affecting one data source, the number of reported covid-19 deaths in england is lower than expected. any delay in reporting is expected to catch up in the next couple of days. a technical issue affecting one route of reporting to ukhsa reported on 4 may has been fixed. deaths figures by report date on 5 may include some deaths that would have been reported on the previous day. deaths by death date are backdated. from 9 may, public health scotland moved to reporting data on mondays and thursdays. this means uk headline figures are also updated on mondays and thursdays. up-to-date data for england, wales (excluding vaccinations) and northern ireland are on the cases, deaths, healthcare, testing, vaccinations and postcode pages. due to technical issues, the department of health in northern ireland were unable to update the numbers of tests, cases and deaths reported. this means that uk cases, deaths and testing data has not been updated beyond 10 may 2022. from 20 may, department of health northern ireland stopped reporting data on cases, testing and deaths. this means uk headline figures for these topics will not be updated. up-to-date data for england, wales (excluding vaccinations) and scotland are on the cases, deaths, healthcare, testing, vaccinations and postcode pages. data for vaccinations in northern ireland will continue to be updated daily. in line with weekday only reporting, the dashboard will not be updated over the bank holiday weekend. following the update on wednesday 1 june, the next update will be on monday 6 june. "coronavirus: uk deaths rise by more than 100 in a day". bbc news. retrieved 27 march 2020. though later reporting indicated that there may have been some cases dating from late 2019, covid-19 was confirmed to be spreading in the uk by the end of january 2020 with the first confirmed deaths in march. subsequent epidemiological analysis showed that over 1000 lineages of sars-cov-2 entered the uk in early 2020 from international travellers, mostly from outbreaks elsewhere in europe, leading to numerous clusters that overwhelmed contact tracing efforts. limited testing and surveillance meant during the early weeks of the pandemic, case numbers were underestimated, obscuring the extent of the outbreak. a legally-enforced stay at home order, or lockdown, was introduced on 23 march, banning all non-essential travel and contact with other people, and shut schools, businesses, venues and gathering places. people were told to keep apart in public. those with symptoms, and their households, were told to self-isolate, while those considered at highest risk were told to shield. the health services worked to raise hospital capacity and established temporary critical care hospitals, but initially faced some shortages of personal protective equipment. by mid-april it was reported that restrictions had "flattened the curve" of the epidemic and the uk had passed its peak after 26,000 deaths. the uk's overall death toll and by population surpassed that of italy on 3 may, making the uk the worst affected country in europe at the time. restrictions were steadily eased across the uk in late spring and early summer that year. the uk's epidemic in early 2020 was at the time one of the largest worldwide. second wave by the autumn, covid-19 cases were again rising. this led to the introduction of social distancing measures and some localised restrictions. larger lockdowns took place in all of wales, england and northern ireland later that season. in both england and scotland, tiered restrictions were introduced in october, and england went into a month-long lockdown during november followed by new tiered restrictions in december. multi-week 'circuit-breaker' lockdowns were imposed in wales and northern ireland. a new variant of the virus is thought to have originated in kent around september 2020. once restrictions were lifted, the novel variant rapidly spread across the uk. its increased transmissibility contributed to a continued increase in daily infections that surpassed previous records. the healthcare system had come under severe strain by late december. following a partial easing of restrictions for christmas, all of the uk went into a third lockdown. the second wave peaked in mid-january with over 1,000 daily deaths, before declining into the summer. the first covid-19 vaccine was approved and began being deployed across the uk in early december; with a staggered rollout prioritising the most vulnerable and then moving to progressively younger age groups. the uk was the first country to do so, and in early 2021 its vaccination program was one of the fastest in the world. by august 2021, more than 75% of adults in the uk were fully vaccinated against covid-19. quarantine rules for all incoming travellers were introduced for the first time in late january. restrictions began to ease from late february onwards and almost all had ended in great britain by august. third wave a third wave of daily infections began in july 2021 due to the arrival and rapid spread of the highly transmissible sars-cov-2 delta variant. however, mass vaccination continued to keep deaths and hospitalisations at much lower levels than in previous waves. infection rates remained high and hospitalisations and deaths rose into the autumn. in december, the sars-cov-2 omicron variant was confirmed to have arrived and begun spreading widely in the community, particularly in london, driving a further increase in cases that surpassed previous records, although the true number of infections was thought to be higher. it became mandatory for people to show proof of full vaccination or proof that they are not infected to enter certain indoor hospitality and entertainment venues. on 9 january 2022, the uk became the seventh country worldwide to pass 150,000 reported covid-19 deaths. all remaining legally enforced covid-19 related restrictions concluded in northern ireland and england during february 2022, with that step being taken in scotland (partially extended into april) and wales by the end of march. cases rose following the relaxation of restrictions but began, along with hospitalisations and deaths, to fall shortly after. the uk health security agency publishes a weekly "national influenza and coronavirus (covid-19) report", which summarises covid-19 levels and other seasonal respiratory illnesses. responses government this section is an excerpt from british government response to the covid-19 pandemic. prime minister boris johnson delivers a press conference on 22 october 2020 with chancellor of the exchequer rishi sunak. the "hands, face, space" slogan is displayed on their podiums in response to the covid-19 pandemic in the united kingdom, the uk government introduced various public health and economic measures to mitigate its impact. devolution meant that the four nations' administrative responses to the pandemic differed; the scottish government, the welsh government, and the northern ireland executive produced different policies to those that apply in england. numerous laws were enacted or introduced throughout the crisis. the uk government had developed a pandemic response plan in previous years. in response to the first confirmed covid-19 cases in january 2020, the uk introduced advice for travellers coming from affected countries in late january and february 2020, and began contact tracing, although this was later abandoned. the government incrementally introduced further societal restrictions on the public as the virus spread across the country in the following weeks, initially resisting more stringent measures introduced elsewhere in europe and asia. prime minister boris johnson announced the first national lockdown on 23 march 2020 and parliament introduced the coronavirus act 2020, which granted the devolved governments emergency powers and empowered the police to enforce public health measures. as the governments began lifting the nationwide stay-at-home order, policies and approaches diverged between the four nations. the scottish government uniquely pursued an elimination strategy. across the country, localised lockdowns, social distancing measures, self-isolation laws for those exposed to the virus and rules on face masks were introduced, as well as efforts to expand covid-19 testing and tracing. in autumn and winter 2020, further nationwide lockdowns were introduced in response to a surge in covid-19 cases and the alpha variant. a covid-19 vaccination programme began in december 2020. in mid-2021, the government lifted most restrictions during the third wave driven by the delta variant, until the "winter plan" reintroduced some rules in response to the omicron variant in december that year. remaining restrictions were lifted in england from 24 february 2022 under a "living with covid" plan announced by the government on that date. economic support was provided to struggling businesses and to furlough employees to mitigate the severe economic impact. it also forwent the procurement process in contracts in response to shortages of ppe and medical equipment, major issues in the early months of the outbreak, and for developing a contact tracing app. the uk government's response to the pandemic, in particular the timeliness of public health measures being introduced and lifted, has faced criticism from academic medical sources, media outlets, relatives of covid-19 patients and various political figures. this criticism continued amid the partygate scandal, as multiple government officials were revealed to have breached covid-19 social distancing restrictions during lockdowns. a public inquiry into the response was established in june 2022. other sectors this section is an excerpt from united kingdom responses to the covid-19 pandemic. the british military were mobilised to assist with the pandemic response and conducted operations within the uk and in its overseas territories. the national health services of each nation also took action to free up hospital beds and resources, increase available staff, and establish temporary hospitals, although personal protected equipment shortages were a major issue in the early stages of the outbreak. increasing capacity for covid-19 testing took the cooperation of government healthcare agencies, various laboratories, universities and the royal mail. the british research sector were involved in covid-19 vaccine clinical research, drug development and other innovation. impacts there has been some disparity between the outbreak's severity in england, scotland, wales and northern ireland – health-care in the uk is devolved, each constituent country having its own publicly-funded healthcare system run by devolved governments. health and life expectancy the covid-19 pandemic led to the largest fall in life expectancy in england since records began in 1981. on average, british covid-19 victims lost around a decade of life; the last time deaths rose so sharply in the uk was during world war ii. in 2020, the disease was the leading cause of death among men, and second leading cause among women. research in 2021 suggests over 1 million people in the uk have had long covid, with the majority reporting substantial impacts on day-to-day life. professor danny altmann of imperial college london said in march 2022, "it's kind of an anathema to me that we've kind of thrown in the towel on control of