LONDON: The prevalence of COVID-19 infections in England is much higher than it was at the end of August but there are signs that growth in infection rate is slowing, a study by Imperial College said on Thursday.
The findings come after Prime Minister Boris Johnson pleaded with Britons to obey the rules imposed to tackle a rapidly accelerating second wave of the coronavirus, with more than 7,000 new cases of COVID-19 reported in each of the last two days.
The Imperial study showed 1 in 200 people were infected, but also that the reproduction R rate dropped from 1.7 to 1.1, meaning that on average, 10 infected people will go on to infect another 11 people rather than 17 people.
The fall in the R number therefore implies the epidemic’s growth might be decelerating.
“While our latest findings show some early evidence that the growth of new cases may have slowed, suggesting efforts to…