Christmas. They told The Spectator : "If Sage are this cautious going into summer, then they are not going to want to play fast and loose with the R number heading into winter." The all-important R number is a measure of how fast the virus is spreading.Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said the R rate across the country was still below one, but warned that the UK must demonstrate 'caution' in how lockdown is eased.He told the daily briefing: "The R is below one, but perhaps only just below one.
The epidemic is shrinking, but not fast.""Numbers are coming down," he said, "but are not yet very low. The vast majority of the population remains susceptible to the infection."That urges caution, it urges going slowly with changes and.