Coronavirus infections are falling faster in the South West than any other region in England, the latest figures show.
Our growth rate is now -8 to -5, which means the virus is dropping between eight to five per cent every day in our area.
The virus is falling the slowest in North East and Yorkshire which has a growth rate of -5 to -2 per cent.
Our growth rate is also significantly below the national rate of -5 and -3 per cent.
Meanwhile, the South West's R rate - reproductive number - is also the joint-lowest in the country.
Our R is now 0.6 to 0.8 - the same as last Friday. It means every ten infected people will spread the virus to between six to eight others.
The UK's is between 0.7 to 0.9, - this is a slight increase compared to last week, which was 0.6 to 0.9.
It marks the first rise in R rate in seven weeks, when it rose from 1.0 on January 8 to 1.2 on January 15.
Gloucestershire has been recording some of the lowest daily rises in infections across the country this week. Seven areas are now ranked in the bottom 40 locations out of a possible 380.
Meanwhile, cases continue to fall in Bristol, which is recording daily totals similar to those reported in September.
And daily cases and deaths in Somerset also continue to drop, with 46 new infections and three deaths on Thursday. This compares to 73 and four deaths the previous Thursday.
Professor Andrew Hayward, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), said society will "get back to normal" in time and the country has already seen the worst.
"I think, you know, given the societal trade-offs, we are going to have to live with a degree of mortality that will be substantial," he told Times Radio.
"I think it will get less over time as more people get vaccinated, and as more people get immune, and I do believe that we've been through the worst of this."
