Â鶹ԼÅÄ

There is some positive news on the coronavirus pandemic here in the UK.

The R number - the reproduction rate - is below 1 which means the number of positive cases of Covid-19 is going down.

Experts have said the R is now estimated to be 0.7 and 0.9 which is the lowest it has been since July 2020.

It means that the current lockdown rules and the vaccination process is working to bring the case numbers down.

It is not yet known when lockdown rules will be relaxed but the Prime Minister says he will reveal plans for easing any restrictions in just under two weeks.

There is still a warning from experts that infection levels remain high and there are still too many people being admitted to hospitals.

People are still being told to not mix between households unless they are in a support bubble, wear masks when in public places, and to stay two meters apart from people.

Currently, more than 13.5m UK people have had at least their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

It will take up to three weeks for those people to build some immunity to the disease and they will also require a second dose of the vaccine before they are protected against Covid-19.