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<p>The Government Office for Science currently publishes the latest estimate of the
United Kingdom-wide range for R on a weekly basis. At the time of writing the current
range is estimated to be 0.7-0.9 and is based on latest data available to determine
infection and transmission rates. We do not calculate the R rate in different regions
or local authority areas.</p><p>R is an average number and so can be highly uncertain
if based on small quantities of data, for example, the R value for Northern Ireland
will be more uncertain than England as the population is smaller and there have been
fewer COVID-19 cases to date from which R can be calculated. R is not usually a useful
measure on its own and needs to be considered alongside the number of new cases. Because
of this uncertainty, The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies’ view is that it
is unhelpful to use estimates of R rates to monitor the epidemic in different regions.</p><p>
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