THE R number and growth rate for the South West's new coronavirus cases has crept up again.

The latest data, which was released by the Government Office for Science and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) on Friday (April 2) rates the ability to spread Covid-19 and the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to, on average.

The updated 'R rate' for the South West, including Cornwall, has increased to between 0.7 - 1.0, which is marginally lower than the latest R number range for England, of 0.8 - 1.0.

An R-value between 0.7 and 1.0 means that, on average, every ten people infected will infect between seven and ten other people.

The Government dashboard states that no UK estimates for R and growth rate have been agreed by SAGE this week.

The current growth rate in the South West is now set at -5 to 0. The size of the growth rate indicates the speed of change.

It is slightly better than the growth rate range for England, which is -4% to 0% per day.

A growth rate of between -5% and -0% means that the number of new infections is broadly flat or shrinking by up to 5% every day, which is a slower rate of improvement to previously.

However, SAGE has warned that for the south west in particular, care should be taken when interpreting these estimates, as they are based on low numbers of cases and/or dominated by clustered outbreaks.

It states: "They should not be treated as robust enough to inform policy decisions alone."

Last week the R range for the UK was 0.7 to 0.9 and the growth rate range was -5% to -2% per day, as of March 26.

Two weeks ago, the South West had an R rate of 0.6 - 0.9, with a growth rate between -8% to -3%.

The R rate for the South West is still among the lowest in the country. along with the South East, East of England, London and Midlands.

SAGE also states: "The UK estimates of R and growth rate are averages over different epidemiological situations and should be regarded as a guide to the general trend rather than a description of the epidemic state.

"Given the increasingly localised approach to managing the epidemic, particularly between nations, UK-level estimates are less meaningful than previously and may not accurately reflect the current picture of the epidemic.

"The R value and growth rates for the four nations and NHS England regions are more robust and useful metrics than those for the whole UK."

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

Region R Growth rate % per day

England 0.8 to 1.0 -4 to 0

East of England 0.7 to 1.0 -6 to -1

London* 0.7 to 1.0 -5 to -1

Midlands 0.7 to 1.0 -5 to -1

North East and Yorkshire 0.8 to 1.0 -4 to 0

North West 0.8 to 1.0 -4 to 0

South East 0.7 to 1.0 -5 to -1

South West* 0.7 to 1.0 -5 to 0

*Particular care should be taken when interpreting these estimates, as they are based on low numbers of cases and/or dominated by clustered outbreaks. They should not be treated as robust enough to inform policy decisions alone.