COVID-19 infection rate plummets in England, says Imperial College study – By Rowland Manthorpe (Sky News) / Feb 18 2021
The survey tested more than 85,000 volunteers between 4 and 13 of February to examine infection levels in the general population.
One of the largest and most authoritative coronavirus surveys has found that infections are quickly falling in England, confirming that lockdown is working to suppress the virus.
Imperial College London’s REACT study found that infections had fallen by more than two-thirds since the last time it reported in mid-January.
Last time, REACT found that 1 in 63 people currently had the virus. This time, it estimates that 1 in 196 people are infected.
This means that infections are now at a similar level to where they were when REACT reported in September.
The researchers estimate that the national R number for England is between 0.69 and 0.76, meaning the outbreak is decreasing across the country.
