UK COVID-19 R number dips, epidemic shrinking faster, government says

The number of new COVID-19 infections in Britain is shrinking by 3% to 6% each day, faster than last week, the government said on Friday, adding that the closely-watched reproduction "R" number might be slightly lower too. The daily growth rate in infections was estimated at between -6% and -3%, down from a range of -5% and -2% last week.

The number of new COVID-19 infections in Britain is shrinking by 3% to 6% each day, faster than last week, the government said on Friday, adding that the closely-watched reproduction "R" number might be slightly lower too.

The daily growth rate in infections was estimated at between -6% and -3%, down from a range of -5% and -2% last week. The R number was estimated at between 0.6 and 0.9, meaning that that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between 6 and 9 other people. Last week the estimated range was between 0.7 and 0.9.

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