The transmission rate of coronavirus has remained steady for a second week in a row.
The R number - which is the average number of people an infected person will pass the disease on to - remained between 0.7 and 1 across the UK, government scientific advisors revealed.
There is a time lag in the calculations, with the latest R value relating to what was happening two to three weeks ago.
The latest rate is the same as the one released last week and remains higher than the previous one, which was between 0.5 and 0.9.
The lack of downward movement is thought to be driven by the continued spread of the virus in care homes and hospitals during the period covered rather than the wider community.
Keeping the R number below 1 is a key goal Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set to allow the continued gradual releasing of the lockdown in the coming months.
If R is one or higher, the virus will spread exponentially through the population. An R number of less than one indicates the virus is in decline.
Mr Johnson has said ministers would reimpose controls if the rate of transmission of the virus started to pick up again.
Announcing his "road map" out of lockdown Mr Johnson said: "We must make sure that any measures we take do not force the reproduction rate of the disease - the R - back up over one, so that we have the kind of exponential growth we were facing a few weeks ago."
What is the R number?
The R number is how many people each infected person will pass the disease to, on average.
R stands for reproduction, as the R number is how scientists measure how quickly a disease is spreading.
If the R number is two, it means each infected person will infect another two, who will each infect another two, and so on.
How is the R number calculated?
Six groups of scientists look at data including hospital admissions, deaths, intensive care occupancy and total confirmed cases. They each make separate recommendations to SAGE, who meet twice a week to consider the evidence.
SAGE will be closely monitoring the R number as the lockdown measures are relaxed.
What happens if the R number rises?
The government may re-impose stricter coronavirus lockdown measures if the R number rises above one.
It could lead to an increase in cases, and a second peak.
How do you reduce an R number?
At the moment, social distancing is preventing the spread of coronavirus.
Tracking and tracing the virus - with extensive testing or location tracking apps - will also help limit the spread.
A vaccine would also reduce the R number, as large portions of the population would be protected from the disease.
