The health secretary has played down concerns about the R rate in the South West, and insisted it is below 1.
A study released on Friday found that the coronavirus R rate in the South West was at or above 1 - the joint highest of all regions in England, alongside the North West.
Experts at the University of Cambridge and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine carried out the modelling, in partnership with Public Health England.
They warned that more people could die and that the rate in the South West could be as high as 1.29.
'R' is the rate of transmission, and represents how many people any one person could go on to infect.
As long as the rate is below 1, the spread will eventually stop and coronavirus will be contained.
Speaking in the House of Commons this afternoon (Monday, June 8), however, health secretary Matt Hancock said all regions across the country had an R rate of below 1.
He said nationally, according to SAGE (the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies), it is between 0.7 and 0.9.
However, shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth noted the Cambridge modelling and highlighted how the South West and North West were said to be at or above 1.
He said many people fear the Prime Minister is "throwing caution to the wind" with the relaxing of measures.
Mr Hancock responded by saying: "The way that you get the best advice is looking at all different models rather than just one.
"The SAGE view, taking into account all of the evidence, is that R is below 1 in each region."
He later said people should "not just wrongly focus on one [study]".
He announced that the daily coronavirus death toll today is recorded at 55 - the lowest since lockdown began, and even less than the 77 recorded yesterday.
He also said the latest figures recorded no new coronavirus deaths in London hospitals, which he described as a "real milestone".
Mr Hancock told the Commons: "Coronavirus is retreating across the land - our plan is working".
However, he said the statistics should be taken with a "caution and safety-first" approach.
During a Downing Street briefing on Friday, he said the R rate in the South West and North West was "closer to 1" than elsewhere.
He also suggested that local lockdowns would be used if necessary to control flare-ups in cases on a local level.
"That's much preferable to a re-invigoration of the national lockdown," he said in the Commons today.
