England's COVID R number dips, could be below 1

LONDON - England's COVID-19 weekly reproduction "R" number fell and could be below 1, according to official data released on Friday, but it was unclear whether the epidemic was growing or shrinking.

The R number was estimated between 0.9 and 1.1, meaning for every 10 people infected, they will on average infect between 9 and 11 other people. That compared with a range of 1.0 to 1.1 in figures released last week.

The estimated daily growth of infections was between -2% to +2%, compared to 0% to +2% estimated last week.