Less than two months after the 2019 election, cases of COVID-19 (which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020) had spread to the UK. The BBC wrote "The UK's failure to do more to stop Covid spreading early in the pandemic was one of the country's worst public health failures, a report by MPs says." A legally-enforced lockdown was announced on 23 March, banning all non-essential travel and contact with other people, and shutting schools, businesses, venues and gathering places. People were told to stay at home except for essential purposes and 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. In late March, Johnson himself tested positive and was hospitalised with the disease. Johnson's government responded by enacting emergency powers and widespread societal measures including several lockdowns, and approved a vaccination programme that began in December 2020. Reception for Johnson's leadership during the crisis was mixed.
