England’s Covid R number has dropped significantly week on week and is now between 0.8 to 1.1 according to the latest government figures.
With the lower range of the figure less than 1, the epidemic appears to be close to shrinking.
R represents the average number of people each Covid-19 positive person goes on to infect.
An R number between 0.8 and 1.1 means that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between 8 and 11 other people.
The drop to below one for the lower end of the range was seen in every region of England.
The growth rate is between -3% to +1% meaning the number of new infections ranges between a drop of 3% and growth of just 1% every day.
That is a week-on-week fall from between 2% and 5% the previous week.
Here’s what the R rate is in each region of England:
East of England – 0.9 to 1.2 (down from 1.3 to 1.5)
London – 0.9 to 1.2 (down from 1.2 to 1.5)
Midlands – 0.8 to 1.1 (down from 1.1 to 1.4)
North-east and Yorkshire – 0.7 to 1.0 (down from 1.1 to 1.5)
North-west –0.7 to 1.0 (down from 1.0 to 1.2)
South-east – 0.9 to 1.2 (down from 1.2 to 1.5)
South west – 0.8 to 1.2 (down from 1.2 to 1.5)
The latest estimates are provided by the UK Health Security Agency.
They represent the transmission of COVID-19 two to three weeks ago, due to the time delay between someone being infected, developing symptoms, and needing healthcare.
Meanwhile, other new figures showed proportion of people testing positive for coronavirus in England has decreased.
Around one in 75 people in private households in England had Covid-19 in the week to July 31 – down from one in 65 in the previous week, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
One in 75 is the equivalent of 722,300 people, down from 856,200 in the previous week.
The percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 is estimated to have decreased in the North West, East Midlands, West Midlands, London and the South East, the ONS said.
For the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, South West and East of England, the trend is uncertain, it added.