UK R rate increases to between 0.7 to 0.9
The UK’s R number has risen slightly to a best estimate of between 0.7 and 0.9, though it remains below the crucial 1 threshold.
The figure marks a marginal hike from last week, when scientists estimated that the R rate was between 0.6 and 0.9. The new R rate means that every 10 people infected will infect between seven and nine other people.
An R rate below 1 means transmission is low enough that the epidemic is shrinking, while an R rate greater than 1 suggests the outbreak is growing.
London’s R rate also increased, up from between 0.6 and 0.9 last week to between 0.7 and 0.9 this week, with the spread of coronavirus thought to be declining between one and five per cent each day.
Separate data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning that cases are “levelling off” in England.
Around one in 340 people are estimated to have been infected with the virus outside hospital in England in the week ending 20 March — the same number as the previous week.
It remains the lowest figure since the week ending 24 September, when the infection rate stood at around one in 470 people.
The Prime Minister has credited the UK’s rapid vaccine rollout for helping push down coronavirus rates, with infections across the country thirteen times lower than at the end of last year.
Johnson, who received a first dose of the Astrazeneca jab last week, said on Tuesday the nation is “step by step, jab by jab” on the path to ” reclaiming our freedoms”.
Almost 29m people across Britain have received their first dose of a Covid vaccine — 2.8m of which have received both doses.
Official data released last week showed one in three people in England are estimated to have coronavirus antibodies either from past infection or vaccination.
It marks a dramatic increase from about one in 10 at the start of December, suggesting the UK’s rapid vaccine rollout is beginning to bear fruit among the population.
The rate of people testing positive for antibodies was higher among older people, who have been prioritised in the nation’s largest ever vaccination programme.