The South West’s coronavirus R-rate has fallen over the past week - but still remains the joint highest in the country.
Latest estimates from SAGE - the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies - say that the South West’s R-rate (reproduction rate) number is currently between 0.8 and 1.1, putting it at the same level as the Midlands, North West and North East and Yorkshire regions.
The R-rate details the rate which coronavirus grows and spreads based on the average number of people that one infected person will pass the virus onto.
SAGE's latest estimate for the South West means that for every 10 infected people, they will spread the virus onto between eight and eleven other people.
This is still a drop compared to last week's figure though, which was 0.9 to 1.2.
Nationally, England's R-rate is at 0.7 to 1.1. Last week, it was 0.8 to 1.0.
In the South West, the growth rate percentage per day - which details how quickly the numbers of infections are changing day by day - is currently between -4 to +1, which compared to last week's figure for the region, -2 to +3, means case numbers are falling.
The growth rate for England currently stands at -4 to 0.
Growth rates are shown as a range and the true values are likely to lie within this range.
Latest R-rate and Growth rate estimates by NHS regions
What is the R-rate?
The reproduction number (R) is the average number of secondary infections produced by a single infected person.
An R-value of 1 means that on average every person who is infected will infect one other person, meaning the total number of infections is stable. If R is 2, on average, each infected person infects two more people. If R is 0.5 then on average for each two infected people, there will be only one new infection.
If R is greater than 1 the epidemic is growing if R is less than 1 the epidemic is shrinking. The higher R is above 1, the more people one infected person infects and so the faster the epidemic grows.
R can change over time. For example, it falls when there is a reduction in the number of contacts between people, which reduces transmission. R increases when the numbers of contacts between people rise, leading to a rise in viral transmission.
What is the growth rate?
The growth rate reflects how quickly the numbers of infections are changing day by day. It is an approximation of the percentage change in the number of infections each day.
If the growth rate is greater than 0 (+ positive), then the epidemic is growing. If the growth rate is less than 0 (- negative) then the epidemic is shrinking.
The size of the growth rate indicates the speed of change. A growth rate of +5% indicates the epidemic is growing faster than a growth rate of +1%. Likewise, a growth rate of -4% indicates the epidemic is shrinking faster than a growth rate of -1%.