Official Covid R rate STABLE but as high as 1.5 in new Delta variant hotspot

ENGLAND’S R rate has stayed the same this week as cases of the Delta variant soar by 46 per cent.

It could be as high as 1.5 in the North East and is no lower than 1.1 government scientists said today.

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The R rate reflects the infection spread across the country. Surge testing is still in place in some areas and everyone is encouraged to take lateral flow tests[/caption]

Despite the R rate remaining flat the growth rate has shrunk slightly.

Last week it was between 3 and 6 and this week it is estimated to be between 3 and 5.

This means that, on an average day, the outbreak is growing by three to five per cent.

The data published by Sage comes after it was estimated that one in 440 people now have Covid in England.

This is up from last week’s figure of 520, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

It also estimated that 122,500 people in England were believed to have been infected with the virus in the last week, up from 105,000.

Infections have been rising in England due to the Delta variant, which now accounts for three in every four infections.

There have now been a total of 111,157 recorded infections of the mutation in Britain, Public Health England said.

This is a 46 per cent increase on the week before, with around 95 per cent of all UK Covid cases found to be the Delta variant.

An extra 514 people were admitted to hospital in England with Covid up to June 21, of which 304 were unvaccinated.

It comes as:

• Matt Hancock admits ‘I’ve breached social distancing’ but doesn’t apologise to wife as he breaks silence over affair
• Covid booster jabs for all Brits this winter is NOT possible, warns expert
• Delta variant cases jump 46% to 111,000 – as NEW strain investigated by PHE
• ‘Green fungus’ linked to Delta variant ‘triples risk of death’, scientists warn
• There are 21 different Covid symptoms and most common just feel like a cold, expert warns

This week an increase in infections has been seen in school year 12 and in people aged 24 and over, the ONS said.

Many people age 24 and over may still not have received a vaccine and regional experts this week said that cases are rising in areas where people haven’t had jabs.

For example in the last seven days Newcastle upon Tyne has seen the biggest week-on-week increase in cases, going from 130.4 to 263.9.

Newcastle’s top public health official this week revealed that most of the cases in the areas are coming from young, unvaccinated people.

Professor Eugene Milne, Director of Public Health for Newcastle said: “We know that nearly two thirds of cases (in Newcastle) are among the largely unvaccinated under-25 age group, and more than half are aged between 15-24.”

The R rate reflects the spread of the virus and indicates how many people one person spreads the disease to.

An R rate below 1 is good as it means Covid patients are not passing the virus on to many more people, and the spread of the virus is slowing down.