In April 2020, a survey carried out in the United Kingdom found that since the lockdown restrictions were imposed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 21 percent of respondents aged between 18 and 24 years experienced a bit more sleep of good quality than before the lockdown, while a further 15 percent said they had experienced a lot more good quality sleep than usual. On the other hand, 36 percent of people aged between 35 and 44 years, overall, said they are had been experiencing less good quality sleep than before. 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.

With the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and lockdown measures imposed in many countries in Europe, growth trends in online retail orders have displayed drastic ups and downs. As displayed in the statistic, in the United Kingdom (UK) weekly online retail transactions made in home and leisure categories saw a 200 percent increase since the start of the year. In the week immediately following the lockdown announcement, weekly growth rate for home and leisure retail went up by 200 percent compared to the same period in the previous year. This growth trend continued through April and the first two weeks of May, with sharp drops in the second half of May. Home and leisure retail referred to in this statistic included the following sub-sectors: Seasonal, Media & Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Home & Garden, Health & Beauty, Pet Care, Home Office, Business & Industrial.

In early-February, 2020, the first cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) were reported in the United Kingdom (UK). The number of cases in the UK has since risen to 24,243,393, with 1,062 new cases reported on January 13, 2023. The highest daily figure since the beginning of the pandemic was on January 6, 2022 at 275,646 cases.

COVID deaths in the UK COVID-19 has so far been responsible for 202,157 deaths in the UK as of January 13, 2023, and the UK has one of the highest death toll from COVID-19 in Europe. As of January 13, the incidence of deaths in the UK is 298 per 100,000 population.

Regional breakdown The South East has the highest amount of cases in the country with 3,123,050 confirmed cases as of January 11. London and the North West have 2,912,859 and 2,580,090 cases respectively.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

These data were collected using the HEartS Professional Survey from performing arts workers in the United Kingdom in April–June 2020. HEartS Professional was designed as a multi-strategy data collection tool with two main purposes: (1) to chart working patterns, income, sources of support, and indicators of mental and social wellbeing in order to identify trends in the effects of the lockdown at the time and (2) to explore the individual work and wellbeing experiences of performing arts professionals in their own words, in order to identify the subjective effects of lockdown in terms of challenges and opportunities. The survey covers six areas: (1) demographics, (2) information on illness or self-isolation related to COVID-19, (3) work profiles and income, (4) changes to work profiles and income as a result of the pandemic, as well as sources of support, (5) open-response questions about work and wellbeing experiences of lockdown including challenges and opportunities, and (6) validated measures of health, wellbeing, and social connectedness. HEartS Professional is an adaptation of the HEartS Survey which charts the Health, Economic, and Social impacts of the ARTs (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3r2280gdj).

Methods The sample was recruited through an online data collection platform, Qualtrics, from 1 April to 15 June 2020. 784 respondents started the survey and 447 completed it. Here we include the subset (n=385) of completed surveys that worked in the two performing arts areas: Music or sound arts (e.g. professional musician) and/or Performing arts (e.g. professional actor, dancer, circus performer etc.). The survey contains the following sections:

Demographic and socioeconomic information: Where available standardised Census questions were used to collect data on ethnicity, geographic region, highest educational qualifications, gender, age, and household composition and income. Illness or self-isolation related to Covid-19: Newly created questions. Work profiles and income: Newly created questions. Changes to work profiles and income as a result of the pandemic and sources of support: Newly created questions and Inclusion of Other in Self Scale. Open-response questions about work and wellbeing experiences of lockdown, including challenges and opportunities: Newly created questions (NB. data for the open questions are not included for confidentiality reasons). Measures of health, wellbeing, and social connectedness: The following validated and previously used measures are included

Mental Health Continuum Short Form 14-item scale Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Short Form 8-item scale Self-rated General Health item (from SF-36) Physical activity scale recording mild, moderate, and vigorous physical activity frequency (from Whitehall II Study) Social Connectedness Revised 15-item scale

UCLA Three-item Loneliness Scale, Single item loneliness question De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Short Form 6-item scale 1-item questions on loneliness frequency and loneliness intensity

More information is provided in the Variables tab in the dataset.

As of February 2025, 31 percent of people in Great Britain thought that Keir Starmer was better for the job of Prime Minister than the Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, with 20 percent believing she would be better for the job. Although Starmer is currently seen as better suited for the job as Prime Minister, the approval ratings for his government have declined considerably since winning the election, sinking to a low of -48 percent in January 2025. Sunak vs Starmer Shortly after succeeding Truss as Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak was seen by 30 percent of people as the best person for the job, just four percentage points behind Keir Starmer. Twenty months later, however, on the eve of the 2024 general election, just 19 percent of people thought Sunak was the best choice, compared with 35 percent for Starmer. Despite pledging to address the main issues facing the country at the start of 2023, Sunak struggled to convince voters. Although inflation peaked in 2022, and declined throughout 2023, the cost of living crisis afflicting people in the UK lingered on, while progress on improving the NHS proved elusive. The Conservatives suffered a clear defeat in the 2024 election, winning just 121 seats, compared with 365 in 2019. Scandals and mini budgets After becoming Prime Minister in late 2019, a series of controversies harmed the popularity of Boris Johnson among voters, and eventually forced his resignation. The Partygate scandal, which revealed that senior government officials held parties at Downing Street, during the COVID-19 lockdown, was the most severe. When the issue came to a head in Summer 2022, Johnson survived the initial political backlash, including an attempted vote of no-confidence in his leadership, but he was forced to resign his position after a wave of senior ministers resigned from his government between July 5-7, 2022. Although Liz Truss won the leadership contest that followed the resignation of Johnson, her time in office was by far the shortest of any Prime Minister. After an unorthodox mini-budget resulted in an acute economic crisis, she resigned her position after less than 50 days in the job

In the first quarter of 2020, global stock indices posted substantial losses that were triggered by the outbreak of COVID-19. The period from March 6 to 18 was particularly dramatic, with several stock indices losing more than 20 percent of their value.

Worldwide panic hits markets From the United States to the United Kingdom, stock market indices suffered steep falls as the coronavirus pandemic created economic uncertainty. The Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 are two indices that track company performance in the United States, and both lost value as lockdowns were introduced in the country. European markets also recorded significant slumps, which triggered panic selling among investors. The FTSE 100 – the leading share index of companies in the UK – plunged by as much as 21 percent in the opening weeks of March 2020.

Is it time to invest in tech stocks? The S&P 500 is regarded as the best representation of the U.S. economy because it includes more companies from the leading industries. However, helped in no small part by its focus on tech companies, the Nasdaq 100 has risen in popularity and seen remarkable growth in recent years. Global demand for digital technologies has increased further due to the coronavirus, with remote working and online shopping becoming part of the new normal. As a result, more investors are likely to switch to the tech stocks listed on the Nasdaq 100.