UK R number estimated at 0.7-1.1, pandemic seen shrinking

The estimated COVID-19 reproduction "R" number for Britain is between 0.7 and 1.1, the health ministry said on Friday, with the pandemic still likely to be shrinking each day.

An R number of 0.7-1.1 means that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between 7 and 11 other people. Last week it was 0.8-1.0.

The daily growth rate was estimated at between -5% and 0, compared to -4% and -1% last week, meaning the number of new infections is broadly flat or shrinking by up to 5% every day.