The R rate measures how many people with the coronavirus are infected, on average, by a single case of Covid-19. Below one and the spread is slowing and the infection rate will go down. Above one and it is spreading and the infection rate could rise. A more recent R infection update - including hospitals and care homes - showed in the last week new infections are flatlining. And research by Public Health England and Cambridge University’s MRC Biostatistics Unit - which estimates the R number in different regions - suggested it could be above 1 in the North West.

Source: Daily Mirror June 05, 2020 13:43 UTC