England’s Covid infection rate falls to lowest

The figures mean that on average, every 10 people infected with coronavirus will infect between six and eight others.

London: The coronavirus infection rate in England has fallen to the lowest level since September 2020, data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.

One in 270 people were infected with the coronavirus in the week ending March 6, down from one in 220 in the previous week, the latest ONS Infection Survey data revealed on Friday.

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It is the lowest figure since the week to September 24, 2020, when the number stood at one in 470, Xinhua news agency reported citing the ONS data.

Meanwhile, the UK’s coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the R number, has dropped to between 0.6 and 0.8, the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) announced on Friday.

The figures mean that on average, every 10 people infected with coronavirus will infect between six and eight others.

If the R number is above one, it means the coronavirus outbreak is growing exponentially.

The R number stood at between 0.7 and 0.9 last week.

The latest growth rate is between minus 7 per cent and minus 4 per cent, which means the number of new infections is shrinking by between 4 per cent and 7 per cent every day.

Experts have warned Britain is “still not out of the woods” amid concerns over new variants and the risks of the public breaching restriction rules.