# COVID-19 lockdown begins (2020)

URL: https://english-history.com/timeline/2020-covid-19-lockdown-begins
Categories: main-event

The government imposed unprecedented restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus. Within the broader Postwar & Modern UK period, decolonization, welfare institutions, migration, European integration and withdrawal, devolution and social change reshaped the modern United Kingdom. This event is placed at March 2020 in the chronology so it can be read alongside the political, military, social and cultural changes around it. The pandemic caused mass mortality, economic disruption and profound changes to health policy, work and public life.

## Why it matters
The pandemic caused mass mortality, economic disruption and profound changes to health policy, work and public life.

Ruler at the time: [Elizabeth II](https://english-history.com/rulers/elizabeth-ii)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia topic lookup — COVID-19 lockdown begins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=COVID-19+lockdown+begins&go=Go)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — COVID-19 lockdown begins](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=COVID-19+lockdown+begins)
- [Wikipedia — Timeline of British history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_British_history)
- [The National Archives — Postwar collection](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/explore-by-time-period/postwar/)