COVID-19: England's R number remains unchanged at between 1.2 and 1.4

England's R number remains unchanged at between 1.2 and 1.4, according to latest estimates.

The weekly figure - produced by the scientific advisory panel SAGE - was at the same position seven days ago.

R represents the average number of people each person with COVID-19 goes on to infect, so every 10 people this week will infect approximately between 12 and 14 others.

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When the figure is above 1 it indicates the outbreak is growing exponentially, while below this point means the epidemic is shrinking.

The rate at which cases are growing in England is between 3% and 6% per day - unchanged from last week.

It comes as separate data showed the Delta or Indian variant now accounts for almost all of the UK's coronavirus cases, according to Public Health England.

Some 33,630 cases of the variant were recorded in the last week and PHE said "the most recent data show 99% of sequenced and genotyped cases across the country are the Delta variant".

Last week, the Delta variant made up 90% of COVID cases across the UK.

The latest R and growth rate estimates represent the transmission of COVID-19 two to three weeks ago, due to the time delay between someone being infected, developing symptoms, and needing healthcare.

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These are the regional R numbers (first) and growth rates (second):

East of England - R: 1.1 to 1.3 / Growth: 1 to 5

London - R: 1.1 to 1.4 / Growth: 2 to 6

Midlands - R: 1 to 1.3 / Growth: 2 to 6

North East and Yorkshire - R 1 to 1.3 / Growth: 1 to 6

North West - R: 1.3 to 1.5 / Growth: 5 to 8

South East - R: 1 to 1.3 / Growth 1 to 5

South West - R: 1 to 1.5 / Growth: 1 to 9

Meanwhile, a total of 61,606,582 COVID-19 vaccinations took place in England between 8 December and 17 June, according to NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 393,315 on the previous day.

NHS England said 35,507,916 were first doses, a rise of 217,157 on the previous day, while 26,098,666 were a second dose, an increase of 176,158.