Coronavirus ‘R’ infection rate twice as high in North of England than London – see how your area compares

THE coronavirus “R” infection rate is twice as high in the North of England than in London, new data released today shows.

Research carried out by Public Health England and Cambridge University suggests the reproduction rate in the capital is just 0.4.

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However, in the North East and Yorkshire the R rate - the average number of people an infection person can pass the virus on to - is feared to be at around 0.8.

Boris Johnson said the rate needed to be below one before considering easing the lockdown.

Today's new data also suggests the South West has an R rate of 0.76, slightly more than the North West which has a rate of 0.73.

R RATE DATA

Both the East of England and South East have a rate of 0.71, followed by the Midlands with 0.68 and finally London with 0.40.

The figures stem from forecasts used by the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (Sage) and regional PHE teams.

At the start of the outbreak in Britain, the rate is thought to have been between 3.5 and 4, but it is now believed to be around 0.75 across the UK.

London was Britain’s coronavirus epicentre and estimates suggest at least two million people were infected there.

However, experts say around 15 per cent have since built up immunity to the killer bug which means it is harder for the virus to spread.

Scientists say this could explain why the capital now has a low R rate of 0.4.

REGIONAL BREAKDOWN

Mayors in the North West wrote to the Prime Minister demanding he made regional breakdowns public.

Manchester and Liverpool mayors Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram were concerned their regions had the highest number of new cases last week.

According to the BBC, they wrote: “We believe this is essential information which will help our residents make informed decisions about the risk and help decide whether they wish to take a more cautious approach to the relaxation of the lockdown rules, given the risk locally.”

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It comes as around one in three Brits - 17.3million people - may already have been infected with coronavirus, experts say.

Researchers from the University of Manchester believe 29 per cent of the UK population had had the disease by April 19.

And they say the majority of those would not have had any of the tell-tale symptoms of Covid-19, including a fever and persistent cough.

In particular, they say this gives some hope that a bulk of the population has developed some immunity to the deadly bug.

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