The South West's newest Covid 'R' rate could be below the national average, according to the latest Government estimates.
The rate, which tracks the speed and breadth of virus infection between people, was given an update for the first time in three weeks last Friday (November 5), and has now been updated again today (November 12).
The UK rate now sits at a range between 0.8 and 1.0, meaning that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between 8 and 10 other people.
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This is a decline on the 0.9 to 1.1 rate range declared last week.
The growth rate for the UK this week, which is also a significant drop on last week's update, is now between -3 percent and +1 percent per day.
According to Public Health England, a growth rate of between -3 and +1 means that the number of new infections could be broadly flat, shrinking by up to 3 percent every day or growing by up to 1 percent every day.
Alongside the national trend, there has also been a dip in the reported R rate for the South West, which could be below the national average for infection rates.
The South West's rate now sits between 0.7 and 1.0, meaning that if the lowest end of this range is the accurate measure, infections across our region could be lower than the national average and the lowest regional rate in the country.
This is a drop from the 0.9-1.2 rate range predicted in the South West a week ago.
The growth rate in the Westcountry has also now dropped to -5 percent to +1 percent.
These estimates represent the transmission of COVID-19 from 2 to 3 weeks ago, due to the time delay between someone being infected, developing symptoms, and needing healthcare.
The government states alongside the figures that UK estimates of R and growth rate are averages over different epidemiological situations and should be regarded as a guide to the general trend rather than a description of the epidemic state.
