Politics
Official Covid R rate UP again but remains below crucial 1 as cases fall
THE official coronavirus R rate has risen slightly in England this week and now sits between 0.8 and 1.0.
Cases are still falling across the UK as the jabs rollout continues to slash infection rates.
Brits have been making the most of the mild weather this week and outdoor hospitality[/caption]
For the last few weeks Sage has been unable to give a rate for the UK as a whole.
The team said it because case numbers are so low, the margin of error becomes bigger.
The Department of Health today said that it will continue to public the R rate, but that it wil not longer release a statement with the information.
This, it said, is because “disease incidence is low”.
The R rate has remained relatively constant and below 1 since February 5, having peaked on January 15 at between 1.2 and 1.3.
The value reflects the outbreak with a slight lag, as it takes up to three weeks for changes in the spread of the disease to be clear.
Therefore the estimates today won’t account for any impact of beer gardens, zoos and gyms reopening.
But it could factor in any change caused by the Rule of six, which came into force in England on March 29.
It comes as:
- Wales set to SPEED UP end of lockdown with indoor group activities brought forward by 2 weeks and pubs to reopen Monday
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- Britain ‘no longer in a pandemic’ as jab rollout slashes Covid infections by 90 per cent, experts say
- Twelve-year-olds to get Covid jabs from September under plans to stop killer winter wave
The chart above shows the R rate for each region in England[/caption]
Figures released today revealed that infections are still falling and that around one in 610 people in private households in England had Covid-19 in the week to April 16 – down from one in 480 the previous week – figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed.
It stated that an estimated 90,000 people within the community population in England had Covid-19.
This is the first time it has dropped below 100,000 since the week to September 10 2020, when the estimate stood at 59,800, the equivalent of around one in 900 people.
Both London and the East of England have the highest R rates in the countr and both currently sit between 0.8 and 1.1.
They are followed by the South East which is slightly lower between 0.7 and 1.1.
Next is the North East and Yorkshire, currently between 0.7 to 1.0.
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