Coronavirus infections have now dropped to levels last seen in September, official figures showed today, as a key government adviser said that the success of the vaccine programme meant the “era of the R number” was coming to an end.
About 1 in 220 people in England currently test positive for the virus, down from 1 in 50 at the peak in early January. In Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland levels have fallen to further to around 1 in 300 people.
The findings, from the Office for National Statistics’ regular household infection survey, come as Sage estimated that the R rate, a measure of how fast the pandemic is receding or growing, is between 0.7 and 0.9, and below 1 everywhere in the country. This
