Britain's coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the R number, has fallen slightly, but the virus is still spreading fast in the country, the latest official figures showed Friday, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
The R number is now between 1.1 and 1.3, down from between 1.2 and 1.4 last week, according to the British government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).
The R number is one of many indicators scientists use to determine how fast COVID-19 is spreading in the country.
Reproduction rate means the average number of people each person with coronavirus goes on to infect. Therefore, an R number of between 1.1 and 1.3 means on average every 10 people with the virus will infect between 11 and 13 others.
If the R number is above one, it means the number of cases will increase exponentially.
Earlier, figures from Britain's Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested more than 560,000 people had coronavirus in England last week, with the number of infections rising sharply among secondary school children.
Katherine Kent, co-head of analysis for the COVID-19 infection survey, said: "Following the expansion of ONS infection survey, we are now seeing evidence of increases in COVID-19 infections across the UK."
"When looking at infections across different age groups, rates now seem to be steeply increasing among secondary school children whilst older teenagers and young adults continue to have the highest levels of infection," said Kent.
According to the ONS, the highest COVID-19 infection rates in England continue to be seen in the North West, and Yorkshire and The Humber.
Another 23,056 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 965,340, according to official figures released Thursday.
The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 280 to 45,955, the data showed.
To bring life back to normal, countries, such as Britain, China, Russia and the United States, are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.