| Good evening, Who’d have thought just a few months ago that I would be writing about the R number and that we would all understand what it means.
It has become such a debating point that there can't be many folk anywhere on the planet who do not know that this is the number of people that one person is likely to infect at any given time and that by keeping it below one we can stop the spread of Covid 19 exponentially.
At the moment, it is looking increasingly likely that restrictions on our movements may be tightened in some areas if the R number or infection rate of Covid-19 starts to go up.
And given that the North West of England appears to have the highest R number in the country, we may be the guinea pigs for this new way of operating.
There are those who will see this as an affront to personal liberty and consider it unfair to deal with one area in a different way to the rest.
But let’s be pragmatic. It wouldn’t even be under consideration if it wasn’t necessary to keep us safe. We may not like lockdown, but it’s better than the alternative!
Stay safe, Gillian Parkinson Editor Here are some of our top stories from today... | 
