Coronavirus infections in England have fallen by nearly a third since the country entered its second lockdown, swab tests on 105,000 volunteers have shown.
There was a 30% drop in cases across the country over almost a fortnight this month, with 96 people infected per 10,000 between 13-24 November, down from 132 per 10,000 between 26 October and 2 November.
The R number, which shows the level of transmission, is now 0.88. Any figure above 1 means the virus is growing exponentially.
The findings, from the government-funded React mass surveillance study, have been welcomed as proof that both the England-wide lockdown that began on 5 November, and the system of different tiered restrictions that preceded it, succeeded in reducing transmission of the virus:
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