The R rate stands for the virus’ reproduction rate, measuring how many people on average will be infected for every one carrier.

If the R is one, then one person with the disease infects one other person.

As long as the R value is below one, the number of daily cases will continue to fall.

Sir Ian Diamond, the Office for National Statistics chief, said he agreed with earlier comments by scientist Professor John Edmunds who claimed it has risen from around 0.6 a few weeks ago because of the rapid spread in nursing homes.

Sir Ian told the Downing Street COVID-19 news conference: “That is driven by the epidemic in care homes, he would say and I would not demur from that.”

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Professor Edmunds, who is part of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) told MP’s earlier on the Science and Technology Committee that the R value is currently between 0.75 and one.

Prof Edmunds said: “We have to lift measures gradually and monitor what happens, it would be damaging to have to go back into lockdown.

“We can’t rule it out.

“Measures might have to be imposed locally if an outbreak is spreading but I very much hope to avoid that.”

Prof Edmunds also warned cases will need to fall substantially before contact tracing can be relied on to help prevent a second wave.

He said the system would be quickly overwhelmed if ministers relied on contact tracing once the lockdown is eased next week.

He also added that continued social distancing will be essential to reduce the transmission of the virus.

Prof Edmunds said: “We have perhaps 20,000 cases a day.

“To contact trace (the contacts of) all those would be an enormous undertaking. It’s probably impossible at the moment.

The Isle of Wight has seen the UK governments first foray into contact tracing, with the app being tested on the island before being used nationwide.

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It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson begins looking at easing lockdown measures that have been in place since March 23.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, speaking at the government’s daily briefing, said the R value was between 0.5 and 0.9.

He said care homes remain a “very significant issue,” but the overall number of daily new infections and deaths were both “steadily falling”.

But Mr Raab cautioned: “The virus is not beaten yet, it remains deadly and infectious.”

As of Thursday May 7, the UK has seen a total of 206,715 confirmed coronavirus cases.

The UK’s death toll is also now the worst in Europe, with 30,615 total deaths.

Boris Johnson told a virtual meeting of his cabinet on Thursday that the government would “advance with maximum caution” on lockdown easing to avoid “a second peak” of COVID-19 infections.

The government failed to meet its target of carrying out 100,000 daily virus tests for the fifth day in a row, with a total of 86,583 tests were carried out in the latest 24-hour period.

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