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South west 'R' rate is about 1

Joint highest in UK

The south west may have been relatively lightly hit by coronavirus that London or the north west, but right now the critical 'R' rate - the proportion of other people an infected person passes on the virus to others - is estimated to be at '1' or just above by researchers at the University of Cambridge.

Government scientists say an R rate above 1 leads to rapid increases in the disease spreading and could mean greater lockdown restrictions. This week, the government suggested that future restrictions could be imposed at local levels, rather than across the whole of England.

The R rate has been estimated by two universities and is not the official government figure, which claims that the number is currently between o.7 and 0.9.

Now scientists and Cambridge University say the rate has been increasing since 11 May. People at Sage, the government's scientific advisory group concede that in some areas, the figure is very close to 1.

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