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LONDON, Nov.13 (Xinhua) – Britain’s coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the R number, has dropped slightly to a high of 1.2, the latest official figures revealed on Friday.
The number at the national level remains between 1.0 and 1.2, down from between 1.1 and 1.3 last week, according to the British government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).
The SAGE cautioned that although the R number has dropped in some areas, the number of cases remains “very high.”
The southwest, southeast and east of England have the highest R-numbers, with a maximum of 1.4, SAGE said.
“Significant levels of demand for health care and mortality will persist until R is reduced and remains below one for an extended period of time,” he added.
The R number is one of many indicators scientists use to determine how fast COVID-19 is spreading in Britain.
The reproduction rate means the average number of people that each person with coronavirus infects. Therefore, an R number between 1.0 and 1.2 means that, on average, every 10 infected people will infect 10 to 12 more people.
If the number R is above one, it means that the number of cases will increase exponentially.
The latest figures came as England entered a month-long national lockdown last week, the second of its kind since the coronavirus outbreak in Britain, in a bid to quell the coronavirus resurgence.
Britain reported another 33,470 coronavirus cases, the largest daily increase since the pandemic began, according to official data released Thursday. Coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 563 to 50,928, the data showed.
The number of people who have died from coronavirus in Britain surpassed 50,000 on Wednesday, marking the country fifth in the world to reach the tragic milestone, after the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico.
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