Coronavirus 'R' number in East of England joint highest in the country with South West as 239 new cases recorded in one week

The rate of infection from coronavirus in the East of England is currently the joint highest in the country.

The region's 'R' number - which estimates the number of people an infected person will pass the virus on to - currently stands between 1.3 and 1.6, the same as the South West of the country.

In the week up until October 13, 239 new cases of coronavirus were recorded in Suffolk .

The rate of new weekly cases in the county is on the rise and is currently at 44.3 cases per 100,000 people.

However, this is below the rates for both the East of England, where the rate is 65.46 per 100,000, and England as a whole, which has a rate of 158.32 per 100,000.

Up to October 2, there have been 568 deaths which have seen Covid-19 recorded on the death certificate. There have also been two coronavirus-related deaths in the county in the last seven days.

Researchers from the University of Oxford have, using data from the Office of National Statistics, calculated the average age of those who died with coronavirus since the start of the pandemic was 82.4 - slightly higher than the age of those who died during the same period of other causes, which was 81.5.

On Monday, Boris Johnson introduced a three-tier lockdown system which judges the level of restrictions imposed on an area based on its risk level - medium, high or very high risk.

All areas of Suffolk are currently listed as 'medium risk'.

From Saturday, extra Covid-19 restrictions will be introduced in Essex after Matt Hancock agreed to back a request from the county council to ban households from mixing indoors, including in restaurants and pubs.

Read more: All the latest news from Suffolk