UK's R rate officially falls below 1 for the first time since July

12 February 2021, 14:37

By Alice Dear

@According2Al

The drop in R rate has left the public hopeful lockdown could been eased soon.

The UK's R rate has fallen below 1, Sage has announced.

New data reveals the R rate in the United Kingdom is currently between 0.7 - 0.8.

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This is the first time since July 2020 the figures have been this low.

The R rate represents how many people an infected person will pass Covid-19 onto.

Last week, the R rate was between 0.7 - 1 in the UK, and between 0.7 - 0.9 in England.

Sage said in a statement: "Estimates of the R value are below 1 in all NHS regions of England.

"Although R is below 1 in all regions, there may be more variation in transmission within each region.

"These estimates mean we are confident the epidemic is shrinking across all NHS England regions.

"However, prevalence of the virus remains high, so it remains important that everyone continues to stay at home in order to keep the R value down, protect the NHS and help save lives."

The drop in R rate has left people hopeful lockdown could be eased soon.

Boris Johnson is expected to address the public on February 22 to explain the Government's route out of lockdown.

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