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The R number in the UK is estimated to have risen to between 1.1 and 1.3, according to SAGE’s group of government advisers.
The range of the growth rate of COVID-19 is estimated between +1% to + 6%.
The figure is highest in eastern England and London, with an R-value of 1.2 to 1.5. This means that every 10 infected people will infect between 12 and 15 more people.
The R-value in England as a whole is 1.1-1.4, and is lowest in the North East and Yorkshire, and in the North West (0.9-11).
Last week, the UK figure was between 1.1 and 1.2 with a growth rate of between 1% and 4%.
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When England emerged from November lockdown the number was 0.8 -1, the lowest since August.
The reproduction number (R) is the average number of secondary infections produced by a single infected person.
An R number of 1 means that, on average, each infected person will infect another person, which means that the total number of infections is stable.
If R is 2, on average, each infected person infects two more people. If R is 0.5, then on average, for every 2 infected people, there will only be 1 new infection.
When England came out of the November lockdown, the R number was 0.8 -1.
The news comes the day the government warned more parts of England could wake up on Level 4 Boxing Day, as fears grow about the spread of the new coronavirus mutation VUI-202012/01.
When the prime minister announced his Level 4 restrictions, he warned that the new variant alone could increase the R-value by more than 0.4.
