COVID-19: England’s R number drops slightly to 0.8 to 1 | UK News

England’s R number has dropped slightly to between 0.8 and 1, according to the latest figures.

This means that on average, every 10 people infected with COVID-19[female[feminine forward it to eight to ten other people.

Last week the figure was estimated at between 0.8 and 1.1 by the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

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The daily growth rate of COVID-19 infections is also estimated to be -3% to 0%, down from -4% to -1% a week earlier – meaning the number of cases is now dropping to 3% every day.

R represents the average number of people infected by a person infected with the virus. When the number is greater than 1, an epidemic can grow exponentially – but it will decrease if it is less than 1.

SAGE scientists say the R estimates now cover 1 for England and parts of NHS England, as shown below.

This does not necessarily mean that R is definitely above 1 and that the epidemic is on the rise, just that the uncertainty means that it cannot be ruled out.

Data from Public Health England on Thursday showed that the COVID-19 rates continued to decline in England in the last week of approval.

The number of cases per 100,000 people fell in all age groups between April 26 and May 2, except those aged 5 to 9, which increased slightly to 16.1 per 100,000 people against 14.7 the previous week.

Case rates continued to be highest among people aged 10 to 19 (41.5 per 100,000), while lowest case rates were among those over 80 (4.8 per 100,000).

All regions have seen a decline in case rates, except the Northwest, which saw a slight increase with a rate of 24.9 per 100,000 from 24.1 the previous week.

Case rates remained highest in Yorkshire and Humber (41.7 per 100,000) and lowest in the South West (11.9 per 100,000).

So far, nearly 35 million people have …