UK COVID-19 R rate edges up to 1.2-1.5 as infections rise

LONDON (Reuters) - The reproduction "R" number of COVID-19 infections in the United Kingdom has risen to a range of 1.2-1.5 from last week's figure of 1.1 to 1.4, the government said on Friday.

"An R number between 1.2 and 1.5 means that on average every 10 people infected will infect between 12 and 15 other people," the government said, adding that the number of new infections was growing by 4% to 8% each day.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout, Editing by Paul Sandle)