News that the South West has the highest rate of infection for coronavirus in England means it is "more important than ever" to follow social distancing guidelines, say Cornwall's health leaders.

NHS Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group and Cornwall Council have issued a joint statement to the Packet following last week's announcement by scientists advising the Government that the coronavirus R number may have risen above 1.0 in the South West.

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) published regional values for the reproduction number in England - referred to as R - for the first time on Friday, with the South West having the highest range at 0.8 to 1.1.

Read more: South West R number highest in England and may be above 1

Helen Charlesworth-May, NHS Kernow and Cornwall Council’s joint chief officer for health, care and wellbeing, and Iain Chorlton, chairman of NHS Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group, said today: “The publication of the latest R number shows an increase across England, not just in the South West – this is to be expected as we gradually ease out of lockdown.

“However, this shows us that it is more important than ever that we all follow the social distancing guidelines, remaining two metres apart from people outside our households at all times, only gather in groups of six at a time and continue to wash our hands regularly.

“We currently have good capacity across health and care to manage the number of coronavirus cases but no one wants to see these escalate – we have come too far already, seen the heartache losing a family member, loved one or friend causes, to go backwards now.”

Cornwall Council’s Interim Director of Public Health, Rachel Wigglesworth, said Cornwall continued to monitor the situation "extremely closely."

She added: "We strongly advise that anyone with symptoms of Coronavirus, a high temperature, a new and continuous cough, a loss of sense of taste and smell, to request a test as soon as possible. If you are confirmed as having Covid-19, everyone who you have been in close contact with, within two metres of, will be contacted and asked to self-isolate immediately as part of the Government’s test and trace service.”

Experts have cautioned against the use of regional R values – the average number of people an infected person can pass the disease on to – saying that as the number of infections falls, regional R values become less reliable.

Instead, from next week the Government has promised to publish the growth rates for regions that are based on data and make fewer assumptions.

More information on what the ‘R’ number means can be found at on the government website publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2020/05/15/coronavirus-covid-19-real-time-tracking-of-the-virus/