BREAKING NEWS

UK COVID R number 0.7-0.9, epidemic still shrinking

The estimated COVID-19 reproduction "R" number in Britain is 0.7-0.9, compared to 0.6-0.9 last week, and the epidemic is shrinking roughly as quickly as it was before, the health ministry said on Friday.

An R value between 0.7 and 0.9 means that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between 7 and 9 other people.

The daily growth rate of infections was estimated between -5% and -3%, compared to -6% and -2% last week.