The UK Government has been holding daily press briefings in order to provide updates on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and outline any new measures being put in place to deal with the outbreak. Boris Johnson announced that the UK would be going into lockdown in a broadcast on March 23 which was watched live by more than half of the respondents to a daily survey. On June 28, just 12 percent of respondents said they had not watched or read about the previous day's briefing. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

As of May 2, 2023, the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) had been confirmed in almost every country in the world. The virus had infected over 687 million people worldwide, and the number of deaths had reached almost 6.87 million. The most severely affected countries include the U.S., India, and Brazil.

COVID-19: background information COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus that had not previously been identified in humans. The first case was detected in the Hubei province of China at the end of December 2019. The virus is highly transmissible and coughing and sneezing are the most common forms of transmission, which is similar to the outbreak of the SARS coronavirus that began in 2002 and was thought to have spread via cough and sneeze droplets expelled into the air by infected persons.

Naming the coronavirus disease Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that can be transmitted between animals and people, causing illnesses that may range from the common cold to more severe respiratory syndromes. In February 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses and the World Health Organization announced official names for both the virus and the disease it causes: SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, respectively. The name of the disease is derived from the words corona, virus, and disease, while the number 19 represents the year that it emerged.

In April 2020, a survey of healthcare workers in the United Kingdom (UK) found that majority are worried about their personal health as well as the health of those they live with during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. 28 percent of healthcare workers reported to be very worried about their personal health, while 37 percent were very worried about the health of those in their household.

The latest number of cases in the UK can be found here. For further information about the coronavirus pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Bilingual (EN-UK) COVID-19-related corpus acquired from the portal (https://www.gov.pl/) of the Polish Government (8th May 2020)

Age-standardised mortality rates for deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19), non-COVID-19 deaths and all deaths by vaccination status, broken down by age group.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination rates among adults who live in England, including estimates by socio-demographic characteristic and Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2020

First, second, third dose and booster COVID-19 vaccination rates among people aged 50 years and older who live in England, including estimates by socio-demographic characteristic.

Bilingual (EN-UK) corpus acquired from the website (https://udsc.gov.pl/) of the Polish Office for Foreigners

IntroductionThe key to understanding the COVID-19 correlates of protection is assessing vaccine-induced immunity in different demographic groups. Young people are at a lower risk of COVID-19 mortality, females are at a lower risk than males, and females often generate stronger immune responses to vaccination.MethodsWe studied immune responses to two doses of BNT162b2 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in an adolescent cohort (n = 34, ages 12–16), an age group previously shown to elicit significantly greater immune responses to the same vaccine than young adults. Adolescents were studied with the aim of comparing their response to BNT162b2 to that of adults; and to assess the impacts of other factors such as sex, ongoing SARS–CoV–2 infection in schools, and prior exposure to endemic coronaviruses that circulate at high levels in young people. At the same time, we were able to evaluate immune responses to the co-administered live attenuated influenza vaccine. Blood samples from 34 adolescents taken before and after vaccination with COVID-19 and influenza vaccines were assayed for SARS–CoV–2-specific IgG and neutralising antibodies and cellular immunity specific for SARS–CoV–2 and endemic betacoronaviruses. The IgG targeting influenza lineages contained in the influenza vaccine were also assessed.ResultsRobust neutralising responses were identified in previously infected adolescents after one dose, and two doses were required in infection-naïve adolescents. As previously demonstrated, total IgG responses to SARS–CoV-2 Spike were significantly higher among vaccinated adolescents than among adults (aged 32–52) who received the BNT162b2 vaccine (comparing infection-naïve, 49,696 vs. 33,339; p = 0.03; comparing SARS-CoV–2 previously infected, 743,691 vs. 269,985; p

As a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, media consumption behavior in the United Kingdom (UK) is changing. A third of respondents to a recent survey revealed that they were reading more newspaper content, and just under half were watching more live television. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

First, second, third dose and booster COVID-19 vaccination rates, among people aged 40 to 64 years old who live in England, by Standard Occupational Classification 2010 (SOC 2010).

Bilingual (EN-UK) corpus acquired from Wikipedia on health and COVID-19 domain (2nd May 2020)

COVID-19 causes significant mortality in elderly and vulnerable people and spreads easily in care homes where one in seven individuals aged > 85 years live. However, there is no surveillance for infection in care homes, nor are there systems (or research studies) monitoring the impact of the pandemic on individuals or systems. Usual practices are disrupted during the pandemic, and care home staff are taking on new and unfamiliar roles, such as advanced care planning. Understanding the nature of these changes is critical to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on residents, relatives and staff. 20 care homes staff members were interviewed using semi-structured interviews.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a substantial risk to elderly and vulnerable care home residents and COVID-19 can spread rapidly in care homes. We have national, daily data on people with COVID-19 and deaths, but there is no similar data for care homes. This makes it difficult to know the scale of the problem, and plan how to keep care home residents safe. We also want to understand the impact of COVID-19 on care home staff and residents. Researchers from University College London (UCL) will measure the number of cases of COVID-19 in care homes, using data from Four Seasons Healthcare, a large care home chain. FSHC remove residents' names and addresses before sending the dataset to UCL, protecting resident's confidentiality. Since we cannot visit care homes during the pandemic, we will hold virtual (online) discussion meetings with care home stakeholders (staff, residents, relatives, General Practice teams) every 6-8 weeks, to learn rapid lessons about managing COVID-19 in care homes and identify pragmatic solutions. Our findings will be shared with FHSC, GPs and Public Health England, patients and the public, and support the national response to COVID-19. Patients and the public will be involved in all stages of the research.

The 2021 travel to work matrix estimated from our aggregate spatial modelling with assumed pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) commuting travel behaviours. The data use the Middle Layer Super Output Area 2011 boundaries covering England and Wales. The first column is origin (where people live) and the first row is destination (where people work). Corresponding values show the number of commuters travelling between origin and destination. These are experimental data and should not be used to make decisions.

The Covid-19 induced United Kingdom-wide lockdown in 2020 saw choirs face a unique situation of trying to continue without being able to meet in-person. Live networked simultaneous music-making for large groups of singers is not possible, so other “virtual choir” activities were explored. A cross sectional online survey of 3948 choir members and facilitators from across the United Kingdom was conducted, with qualitative analysis of open text questions, to investigate which virtual choir solutions have been employed, how choir members and facilitators experience these in comparison to an “in-person” choir, and whether the limitations and opportunities of virtual choir solutions shed light on the value of the experience of group singing as a whole. Three virtual choir models were employed: Multi-track, whereby individuals record a solo which is mixed into a choral soundtrack; Live streamed, where individuals take part in sessions streamed live over social media; Live tele-conferencing, for spoken interaction and/or singing using tele-conferencing software. Six themes were identified in the open text responses: Participation Practicalities, encompassing reactions to logistics of virtual models; Choir Continuity, reflecting the responsibility felt to maintain choir activities somehow; Wellbeing, with lockdown highlighting to many the importance of in-person choirs to their sense of wellbeing; Social Aspects, reflecting a sense of community and social identity; Musical Elements, whereby the value of musical experience shifted with the virtual models; Co-creation through Singing, with an overwhelming sense of loss of the embodied experience of singing together in real-time, which is unattainable from existing virtual choir models. The experiences, activities and reflections of choir singers during lockdown present a unique perspective to understand what makes group singing a meaningful experience for many. Co-creation through Singing needs further investigation to understand the impact of its absence on virtual choirs being able re-create the benefits of in-person choirs.

Life expectancy at birth for males and females for Middle Layer Super Output Areas (MSOAs), Leicester: 2016 to 2020The average number of years a person would expect to live based on contemporary mortality rates.For a particular area and time period, it is an estimate of the average number of years a newborn baby would survive if he or she experienced the age-specific mortality rates for that area and time period throughout his or her life.Life expectancy figures have been calculated based on death registrations between 2016 to 2020, which includes the first wave and part of the second wave of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Covid in Cartoons project engaged 15-18 year olds with political cartoons and cartoonists to foster processes of meaning-making in relation to the pandemic. Working with Cartooning for Peace and ShoutOut UK we engaged young people in building critical narratives of the crisis and its impact on their lives. We aimed to promote an inclusive, socially-responsive curriculum that supports young people's ability to cope in difficult circumstances. We used surveys, focus groups, and records of the participants' experiences in the form of workbooks to gather data. The project was led by Dr Fransiska Louwagie (PI) and Dr Diane Levine (Co-I), with postdoctoral associates Dr Kara Blackmore and Dr Sarah Weidman, and ran between January 2021 and July 2022. Covid in Cartoons participants produced many drawings as they progressed through the minicourse, focusing on: i) introducing political cartoons, ii) reflecting on the pandemic through cartoons, iii) heroes, inequalities and human rights, and iv) live drawing with a professional cartoonist.

The increase in the extent of working-from-home determined by the COVID-19 health crisis has led to a substantial shift of economic activity across geographical areas; which we refer to as a Zoomshock. When a person works from home rather than at the office, their work-related consumption of goods and services provided by the locally consumed service industries will take place where they live, not where they work. Much of the clientèle of restaurants, coffee bars, pubs, hair stylists, health clubs, taxi providers and the like located near workplaces is transferred to establishment located near where people live. These data are our calculations of the Zoomshock at the MSOA level. They reflect estimats of the change in the number of people working in UK neighbourhoods due to home-working.

The COVID-19 shutdown is not affecting all parts of the UK equally. Economic activity in local consumer service industries (LCSI), such as retail outlets, restaurants, hairdressers, or gardeners has all but stopped; other industries are less affected. These differences among industries and their varying importance across local economies means recovery will be sensitive to local economic conditions and will not be geographically uniform: some neighbourhoods face a higher recovery risk of not being able to return to pre-shutdown levels of economic activity. This recovery risk is the product of two variables. The first is the shock, the effect of the shutdown on local household incomes. The second is the multiplier, the effect on LCSI economic activity following a negative shock to household incomes. In neighbourhoods where many households rely on the LCSI sector as a primary source of income the multiplier may be particularly large, and these neighbourhoods are vulnerable to a vicious circle of reduced spending and reduced incomes. This project will produce data measuring the shock, the multiplier, and the COVID-19 shutdown recovery risk for UK neighbourhoods. These variables will be estimated using individual and firm level information from national surveys and administrative data. The dataset, and corresponding policy report, will be made public and proactively disseminated to guide local and national policy design. Recovery inequality is likely to be substantial: absent intervention, existing regional inequalities may be exacerbated. This research will provide a timely and necessary input into designing appropriate recovery policy.