Covid R rate in England could be as high as 1.3, latest figures show

Number of infections continue to rise across UK

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The coronavirus R rate in England could be as high as 1.3, the latest government data shows.

This is up from the previous estimate, which calculated that the virus’ reproduction number was between 1.1 and 1.2.

At its current level, the R rate, which measures the average number of secondary infections caused by a single case, is thought to be somewhere between 1.1 and 1.3.

This means that for every 10 infections, 11 to 13 other people will go on to contract the virus.

As the latest R rate is based on Covid-19 transmission data from 2 to 3 weeks ago, the current number could be higher.

This comes as the number of coronavirus infections continue to increase across the UK. In England, the proportion of those with the virus is thought to be as high in January, the peak of the second wave.

Roughly 1.1 million people in the UK had coronavirus in the week to 22 October, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

However, the number of hospitalisations and deaths from the virus are much lower than they were in January.

As of Wednesday, there were 8,914 Covid-19 patients in hospital in the UK, a 9 per cent rise from the previous week, but still far below the 39,254 recorded on 18 January.

There were 1,060 coronavirus deaths reported in the seven days to Thursday, roughly an eighth of the 8,730 fatalities in the week to 23 January.

The vaccination rollout, which has seen more than 100 million shots given to the British public, is credited for the lower figures.

Professor Jim Naismith, an Oxford Univesity professor who runs the Rosalind Franklin Institute, expressed his hope that infections in England could have reached their peak.

However, he warned that the country is still “running very hot”, with 1,000 hospitalisations and 1,000 deaths each week.

Additional reporting by PA