UK coronavirus R rate above 1 in some parts of country as lockdown easing postponed

The UK's coronavirus R rate has climbed above one in some areas of the country.

The rate for the whole country is currently 0.8-0.9, although in some parts - such as the north-west - it is above 1.

The figure relates to how many people an infected person is passing the disease to - and if it rises above one it means the disease is spreading.

The number sits between 0.8 and 1.1 in the north-west and south-west, while in the south-east, London and England as a whole it is 0.8-1.

In the east of England the rate is 0.7-1, while in the Midlands and north-east and Yorkshire it is 0.7-0.9.

It comes as new Covid-19 infections have surged by 50% in just a week.

The Office for National Statistics published its most recent testing survey data suggesting there are now 4,200 new infections every day.

This was up from 2,800 new infections daily the previous week.

The number of new infections had flatlined until now in July and the new data will increase calls for new national lockdown measures.

Heather Bovill, ONS Covid-19 Infection Survey analysis lead, said: “Looking at the latest data and using our modelling techniques we now have evidence to suggest that there has recently been an increase in the number of Covid-19 Infections within the community in England.

New data suggests there are currently more than 4,200 new infections every day in the UK (Daily Mirror/Andy Stenning)

The R rate has climbed above one in some parts of the UK (PA)

“We are continuing to monitor these results and have plans to increase the scale of this survey in the coming weeks in order to offer better detail in the future about how these changes are taking place at a more local level.”

The ONS tests a 20,000 sample of the population and from this it estimates how many new infections we are seeing each day. The latest data covers the period between July 20 to 26.

It comes as a fresh lockdown has banned four million people living in parts of northern England from meeting up indoors.

It has been triggered by dangerous spikes in cases in Greater Manchester, parts of Lancashire and parts of West Yorkshire.

The Government’s top scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, has reportedly warned ministers that the UK could be following Spain in seeing a large spike.