Covid: R-rate shrinks again in England to between 0.8 and 1.0

The coronavirus reproduction number, or R value, in England is between 0.8 and 1, according to the latest Government figures.

Last week, it was between 0.8 and 1.1.

R represents the average number of people each Covid-19 positive person goes on to infect.

When the figure is above 1, an outbreak can grow exponentially but when it is below 1, it means the epidemic is shrinking.

An R number between between 0.8 and 1 means that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between 8 and 10 other people.

Meanwhile the percentage of people testing positive for the virus is estimated to have decreased in north-east England, north-west England, London and the West Midlands, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The trend for all other regions is uncertain.

But Yorkshire and the Humber had the highest proportion of people of any region likely to test positive for coronavirus in the week to August 6 - around one in 50.

North-east England had the second highest estimate - around one in 55.

Eastern England had the lowest estimate - around one in 110.