Coronavirus: Disease Control
(asked on 2nd June 2020) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what data they use to calculate R, the reproduction index for the COVID-19 virus; and what algorithm is used to perform the calculation.
This question was answered on 10th June 2020
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.