COVID-19 pandemic in England
The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public Health England (PHE). NHS England oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the NHS in England, while PHE's mission is "to protect and improve the nation's health and to address inequalities". As of 14 September 2021, there have been 6,237,505 total cases and 117,955 deaths in England.[1] In January 2021, it was estimated around 22% of people in England have had COVID-19.[4]
For the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK as a whole, see COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.Healthcare in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is administered by the devolved governments, but there is no devolved government for England and so healthcare is the direct responsibility of the UK Government. As a result of each country having different policies and priorities, a variety of differences now exist between these systems.[5][6]
ONS data[edit]
Registered deaths[edit]
The Office of National Statistics publishes data on weekly deaths in England and Wales, which include information on deaths from COVID-19. These data give the number of deaths registered in England during a seven-day period; the total number of deaths will be greater as there is normally a delay between the date death occurred and the date it is registered.
Impact[edit]
Finance and the economy[edit]
During the second half of March, one million British workers applied for the Universal Credit benefit scheme.[129][130] On 20 March the government announced a COVID-19 Job Retention Scheme, where it would offer grants to companies to pay 80% of a staff wage each month up to a total of £2,500 per a person, if companies kept staff on their payroll. The scheme would cover three months' wages and would be backdated to the start of March.[131] Following a three-week extension of the countrywide lockdown the scheme was extended until the end of June 2020.[132][133] Initially the scheme was only for those workers who started work at their company on or before 28 February 2020; this was later changed to 19 March 2020, the day before the scheme was announced, allowing 200,000 additional workers to be part of it.[134] On the first day of operation 140,000 companies used the scheme.[135] Later the scheme was extended until the end of October with the Chancellor saying that from August companies would have to contribute towards the 80% of employees wages that the government was covering. It was stated that the scheme was costing £14 billion a month to run, with nearly a quarter of all workers in Britain furloughed by their employers within two weeks of the start of the scheme.[136] The decision to extended the job retention scheme was made to avoid mass redundancies, company bankruptcies and potential unemployment levels not seen since the 1930s.[137]
In March the Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) was announced.[138] The scheme paid a grant worth 80% of self employed profits up to £2,500 each month, for companies whose trading profit was less than £50,000 in the 2018–19 financial year or averaged less than £50,000 over the last three financial tax years. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) were tasked with contacting those who were eligible and the grant was taxable. The government also had announced a six-month delay on tax payments. Self employed workers who pay themselves a salary and dividends are not covered by the scheme and instead had to apply for the job retention scheme.[139] The scheme went live on 13 May.[140] The scheme went live ahead of schedule and people were invited to claim on a specific date between 13 and 18 May based on their Unique Tax Reference number. Claimants would receive their money by 25 May or within six days of a completed claim.[141] By 15 May, more than 1 million self employed people had applied to the scheme.[142]
The government announced Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF) and changes to the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) on 17 March. The SBGF was changed from £3,000 to £10,000, while the RHLGF offered grants of up to £25,000.[143][144][145] £12.33 billion in funding was committed to the SBGF and the RHLGF schemes with another £617 million added at the start of May.[146] By 25 April only around 50% of eligible business had received funding.[147]
On 23 March the Government announced the COVID-19 Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) for small and medium-sized businesses and Covid Corporate Financing Facility for large companies.[148] The government banned banks from seeking personal guarantees on COVID-19 Business Interruption loans under £250,000 following complaints.[149][150] COVID-19 Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) was announced on 3 April and later tweaked to include more companies.[150][151] In May the amount a company could borrow on the scheme was raised from £50 million to £200 million. Restrictions were put in place on companies on the scheme including dividends payout and bonuses to members of the board.[152] On 20 April the Government announced a scheme worth £1.25 billion to support innovative new companies that could not claim for COVID-19 rescue schemes.[153] The government additionally announced the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) for small and medium size businesses. The scheme offered loans of up to £50,000 and was interest free for the first year before an interest rate of 2.5% a year was applied, with the loan being paid back within six years. Businesses who had an existing CBILS loan of up to £50,000 could transfer on to this scheme, but had to do so by 4 November 2020. The scheme launched on 4 May.[154][155] The loan was 100% guaranteed by the government and was designed to be simpler than the CBILS scheme.[156] More than 130,000 BBLS applications were received by banks on the first day of operation with more than 69,500 being approved.[157][156] On 13 May the Government announced that it was under writing Trade credit insurance, to prevent businesses struggling in the pandemic from having no insurance cover.[158][159] On 12 May almost £15 billion of state aid had been given to businesses.[160] The Treasury and the Bank of England on 17 March announced the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF).[161][162]
The Resolution Foundation surveyed 6,000 workers, and concluded that 30% of those in the lowest income bracket had been affected by the pandemic compared with 10% of those in the top fifth of earners.[163] The foundation said that about a quarter of 18 to 24-year-olds included in the research had been furloughed whilst another 9% had lost their job altogether. They also said that 35 to 44 year olds were least likely to be furloughed or lose their jobs with only around 15% of the surveyed population having experienced these outcomes.[164] Earlier research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies concluded that young people (those under 25) and women were more likely to be working in a shutdown business sector.[165]
The Guardian reported that after the government had suspended the standard tender process so contracts could to be issued "with extreme urgency", over a billion pounds of state contracts had been awarded under the new fast-track rules. The contracts were to provide food parcels, personal protective equipment (PPE) and assist in operations. The largest contract was handed to Edenred by the Department for Education, it was worth £234 million and was for the replacement of free school meals.[166]