The rate of coronavirus infections in the south west is believed to be growing slightly faster than last week, according to the latest government data - but far slower than the UK as a whole.

This week's R number and coronavirus growth rate has been published by the government and SAGE (the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) this afternoon.

For the south west the R number remains at 1.1 to 1.4, the same as last week, meaning that for every one person with the infection a further 1.1 and 1.4 people are likely to go on to be infected.

The current growth rate is set at +2 to +7, meaning that new infections are growing by 2 per cent and 7 per cent every day. Last week it was between 1 per cent and 8 per cent.

The latest rate of reproduction for the UK as a whole is between 1.3 and 1.6, while the growth rate range is now between five per cent and nine per cent per day.

READ NEXT:

SAGE said: "An R number between 1.3 and 1.6 means that on average every ten people infected will infect between 13 and 16 other people."

"It is SAGE’s expert view that this week’s estimates are reliable, and that there is widespread growth of the epidemic across the country."

It added that these estimates represent the transmission of Covid-19 over the past few weeks, due to the time delay between someone being infected, having symptoms and needing healthcare.

Estimates for R and growth rates are shown as a range, and the true values are likely to lie within this range.

For Cornwall specifically, there have now been 1,383 cases in total since the start of the pandemic, which represents and overall rate of 241.9 per 100,000 people over that time.

These are the latest R and growth rate estimates by NHS England regions:

Region R Growth rate % per day

England 1.2-1.6 +4 to +8

East of England 1.0-1.3 +1 to +6

London 1.2-1.6 +3 to +9

Midlands 1.2-1.5 +3 to +8

North East and Yorkshire 1.2-1.6 +4 to +9

North West 1.2-1.5 +4 to +8

South East 1.1-1.4 +2 to +6

South West 1.1-1.4 +2 to +7