Coronavirus in England is estimated to be shrinking more quickly compared to last week, the health ministry has said.
The country's R rate has dropped slightly, according to the latest data.
Government figures released this afternoon show the R number is estimated at 0.7 to 1.
Previously, it was recorded at 0.8 to 1 back on April 9.
The R rate represents the average number of people each Covid-19 positive person goes on to infect.
When the figure is above 1, an outbreak can grow exponentially, but when it is below 1, it means the epidemic is shrinking.
An R value between 0.7 and 0.9 means that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between 7 and 9 other people.
It is positive news following the relaxation of lockdown restrictions.
On Monday, shops and pubs re-opened as the latest step on the government's recovery roadmap was launched.
But the figures arrive as health officials reveal they have found a coronavirus variant from India with ‘concerning’ mutations in the UK.
The growth rate, which estimates how quickly the number of infections is changing day by day, is between minus 6 per cent and minus 1 per cent for England.
It means the number of new infections is shrinking by between 1 per cent and 6 per cent every day.
Sage has said that the increasingly localised approach to managing the epidemic between nations means UK-level estimates are now less meaningful and may not accurately reflect the current picture.
The latest government figures on Thursday brings the total number of UK deaths to 127,191.
Yesterday, another 30 people died after testing positive for coronavirus and a further 2,672 new cases were reported.
The number of cases confirmed since the start of the outbreak is now 4,380,976.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies on Thursday show there have now been 151,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
