Study shows coronavirus case rate falling fast in the South West
A study has shown the lockdown continues to have an effect on Covid-19 rates across the West Country.
Data from Imperial College London’s React study show the South West has among the largest decreases in 'prevalence' of the virus.
Regional prevalence was highest in London at 2.83%, while in the South West it was 0.87%.
So what is prevalence?
It means the the proportion of a population who have a specific characteristic in a given time period.
In terms of coronavirus, it means the percentage of people who have Covid-19 and is usually reported as a percentage or as the number of cases in an area per 100,000 people.
The React study from Imperial College London and Ipsos Mori has been conducted every month since May apart from December.
Professor Paul Elliott is the director of the programme and says there has been a “sharper decline in the South, in the South West in particular, and also fortunately in London from very, very high rates and also the South East”.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme "things are pretty flat or even increasing in some of the other regions, so it’s a bit of a mixed picture.”
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In an earlier interview, Professor Elliott urged people to "stay at home wherever possible and help bring the virus under control and protect our already over-stretched health system".
"We’re not seeing the sharp drop in infections that happened under the first lockdown and if infections aren’t brought down significantly, hospitals won’t be able to cope with the number of people that need critical care."