Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data is used and how that data is obtained to calculate the reproductive (r) value for covid-19.

The process for formulating the R number is a complex one. The Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M), which convenes once a week, builds a consensus on the value of R based on expert scientific advice from multiple academic groups. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies then reviews this and provides advice to the Government on the latest R figure. More information on how R is calculated can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-publishes-latest-r-number