The story of the R number: How an obscure epidemiological figure took over our lives. Part 1: History

The R number was the “breakout star” of the early weeks of the Covid-19 lockdowns, swiftly taking up residence in the general public’s consciousness and conversations. In this new six-part series, Gavin Freeguard will delve into the evolution of the R number and how it was modelled, used by the UK government and the media and regarded by the average person during the pandemic. He will also consider its limitations, lessons learned and how such statistical tools should be managed for disease planning and response in the future. In this first instalment, he introduces the history of this statistical concept.