UK COVID-19 R number unchanged, remains below 1

LONDON (Reuters) - The estimated COVID-19 reproduction "R" number in Britain is unchanged at 0.6-0.9, and the epidemic is shrinking roughly as quickly as it was last week, Britain's health ministry said on Friday.

An R value between 0.6 and 0.9 means that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between 6 and 9 other people.

The daily growth rate of infections was estimated between -6% and -2%, compared to -6% and -3% last week.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by William James)