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Coronavirus pandemic

Russia’s coronavirus spread rate rises to record high since May 8

In eight out of ten regions with the biggest caseload the coronavirus spread rate was above 1

© Gabriel Grigorov/TASS

MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/. Russia’s coronavirus spread rate on Sunday grew to 1.08 and in Moscow it climbed to 1.14, according to TASS estimates based on the anti-coronavirus crisis center’s data.

This is a record high figure for the country and the capital since May 8.

In eight out of ten regions with the biggest caseload the coronavirus spread rate was above 1. In St. Petersburg it totaled 1.03, in the Irkutsk and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Regions - 1.06, in the Rostov Region - 1.07, the Moscow Region and the Nizhny Novgorod Region - 1.08. The highest number - 1.22 - was registered in the Voronezh Region, where more than 150 new cases were recorded in the past two days.

In the Krasnoyarsk Region the coronavirus spread rate has stood at 1 in the past five days. The Sverdlovsk Region is the only region where the figure is below 1 (0.98).

The coronavirus spread rate indicates the growth in cases in the country in the past days: since September 4 Russia has been registering more than 5,000 new cases per day and since September 19 more than 6,000 cases. Last time, these figures were recorded in the first half of August and on Sunday the number of new cases was the highest since July 18.

The coronavirus spread rate shows the number of people one patient can infect before being isolated. Along with other criteria, it was used to define the regions’ readiness for a step-by-step removal of restrictions introduced this spring to combat the epidemic. Now this rate is used to adopt decisions on resuming regular passenger service with foreign countries. In accordance with the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing’s recommendations, the borders with a country may be opened if the coronavirus spread rate does not exceed 1 for a week.

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