Covid-19 r-factor decreases to 1.1 – Vince Marmara

The Covid-19 reproduction rate – the r-factor – has gone down to 1.1 from 1.4 last week, statistician Vincent Marmara told The Malta Independent on Sunday in his weekly video blog.

The reproduction number of the virus is one of the key figures which countries across the world have been trying to reduce ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The aim for countries has been to reduce the ratio to a level of 1 - which would mean that one person would transmit the virus to one other person.

Marmara noted that, while the numbers remain high, they are lower than registered last week. This, he said, is the effect of the measures that were recently put in place.

While the number of deaths (18) is the same as last week, there were 16% more recoveries than new cases over the past seven days. More swab tests were performed, with 5.8% resulting positive, lower than last week.

Marmara also noted that the vaccination drive is progressing well, with 9% of the population now being fully vaccinated. 20% have received at least one dose.

Taking a look at other European countries, Marmara noted that new cases in the UK have decreased, while the numbers were up in France, Italy and Germany. In Spain, the figures remained on similar levels as previous weeks.

Many countries are currently studying the impact of the new variants and Malta must do the same, Marmara said.

While the r-factor has decreased, numbers remain high and people need to remain vigilant, he said, particularly when it comes to private gatherings.