UK’s coronavirus R rate drops to as low as 1.1

A key measure of how quickly coronavirus is spreading across the country has fallen for the second week in a row, according to the latest data.

The R number is now between 1.1 and 1.3 in the UK, down from 1.2 to 1.4 last week, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said on Friday.

Two weeks ago it was estimated to be between 1.3 and 1.5.

Otherwise known as the reproduction number, R is the average number of people an individual will go on to infect after contracting Covid.

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The latest figures mean every ten new cases will likely lead to at least another 11 infections.

Any value above 1 suggests the outbreak is growing and has been used to recommend the tightening of restrictions.

Variation in the rate across England suggests outbreaks in some Tier 3 areas may be receding, and may be growing elsewhere.

The rate was estimated at 1.2-1.4 in the east, 1.1-1.3 in London, 1.2-1.4 in the Midlands, 1.1-1.3 in the North East and Yorkshire, 1.0-1.2 in the North West, 1.2-1.4 in the South East, and 1.2-1.5 in the South West.

Meanwhile, the growth rate – an estimate of how quickly the number of infections is increasing day by day – is between 2 and 4 per cent for the UK overall.

This is down from 3 to 6 per cent last week and 4 to 7 per cent the week prior.

Sage warned the latest figures are a better representation of the Covid situation over the past few weeks than of today.

The figures were released shortly after the Office for National Statistics revealed the number of infected people in England soared by almost a third last week.

Case numbers indicated more than one in every hundred people in England now have the virus, and were found to have risen in all age groups.