The coronavirus reproduction rate in Russia has fallen to 0.94 for the first time since late July, according to a TASS analysis based on data from the national anti-coronavirus crisis center. Moscow’s rate has dropped to 0.8, the lowest level in six months, TASS reports.
The coronavirus reproduction rate is at or below 1 in all of Russia’s top ten regions with the highest number of coronavirus cases. The rate is 1 in St. Petersburg and the Nizhny Novgorod and Rostov regions, 0.99 in the Moscow and Krasnoyarsk regions, 0.98 in the Arkhangelsk, Voronezh and Sverdlovsk regions and 0.97 in the Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous region.
The coronavirus reproduction rate indicates the average number of people one sick person can infect. It is one of the criteria to be considered when it comes to removing restrictions introduced in the spring to prevent the infection from spreading. The country’s authorities particularly take the coronavirus reproduction rate into account when making decisions on resuming international flights. According to the Russian sanitary watchdog, it is possible to reopen the country’s border to foreign nationals in case their countries’ coronavirus reproduction rates remain at or below 1 for a week.
