What is the R rate? And how are they compared between UK regions?

How do R rates vary by region?

New figures from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergency, released on January 22, show that England’s southwest, midland, and northwest have the highest R numbers: 0.9 to 1.2.

Regional figures further revealed that R numbers in the northeast and Yorkshire were between 0.8 and 1.1. In the southeast, values ​​are between 0.7 and 1, while in London, R numbers are between 0.7 and 0.9.

However, experts are divided on the relevance of regional data. This is because it is unclear to what extent the various R-values ​​are caused by outbreaks in long-term care facilities and hospitals that pose less threat to the average person than local infections. ..

R is the lowest in eastern England, between 0.6 and 0.9. Throughout the United Kingdom, R is 0.8-1.0.

The Ministry of Health said R was estimated to be less than 1 in the most stringent areas, such as Tier 4 of Christmas, including London, eastern England and southeastern England.

But scientists, despite the decline, “remain dangerously high, and must remain vigilant to stay in control of the virus to protect the NHS and save lives. I warn you.

Sage scientists said, “It is imperative that everyone be at home, whether or not they have been vaccinated.

“We all have to play our part. If we all keep following the rules, we can expect to reduce the number of Rs nationwide.”

In the United Kingdom, the percentage of people tested positive remained high, but declined slightly in the week ending January 16, 2021.

ONS estimates that 1,023,700 people in the UK community population had COVID-19. This is equivalent to 1 in 50 to 1 in 55 from December 27th to January 2nd.

This is a weekly snapshot of the average number of infections recorded by ONS.

Will resuming school affect my fees?

Another problem is that the R rate can vary not only by region, but also by population subsections.

“No one overtakes someone on the street and catches it,” said one government expert. “It’s not the way you get it. It’s a trend in care facilities and hospitals right now.”

So Gavin Williamson suggested that a school could be opened before Easter, Questions have been raised as to whether this move will raise the R rate again, but there is little evidence that it will happen.

Schools play a minor role in infections, presumably 2-4% of deaths and 10% of R rates, according to a study released by University College London (UCL) last April.

Since these estimates are based on the population of the entire school without any additional measures such as social distance, limiting the class size to 15 and replacing the communal table with a traditional single desk will have an impact. It can be even smaller.

At the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, which specializes in pediatrics, Dr. Swaminasan said: “Children do not appear to be seriously ill with this infection.

“We know that children can get infected, but there is little data on how effectively they can spread the infection to others. Countries where schools remain open. So what we saw was that there were no outbreaks at school.

“In the past, it was associated with more crowded events than in regular classrooms, often with adults who became infected and spread the infection. The risk to children is very low. is.”

A Lancet survey released on December 8 said, “Despite the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 in the community, opening schools is generally safe for children, but still especially in junior high schools between households. I supported the idea that it could play a significant role in the transmission of. “

Coronavirus infection rates in school students and staff were associated with those found in the wider community at the peak of the second wave, and one of the largest studies found in schools.

School Infection Survey (SIS)In November, approximately 10,000 students and staff were tested across the UK in partnership with the Public Health Services (PHE), the National Bureau of Statistics of China and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

Dr. Shamez Ladhani, a PHE consultant and principal investigator of the study, said: “More research is needed, but these results seem to indicate that the prevalence of school students and staff is a strict reflection of what is happening outside of school.”