MOSCOW, July 21. / TASS /. Moscow’s COVID-19 spread rate dropped to 0.77 on Wednesday, reaching a new low since March 11, according to TASS estimates based on the anti-coronavirus crisis center’s data.

Overall, in Russia, the figure fell from 0.99 to 0.97, which is a record low since June 5, 2021.

The spread rate stands at below 1 in three out of ten Russian regions with the highest COVID-19 incidence: Moscow along with the Moscow Region (0.98) and the country’s second largest city St. Petersburg (0.99).

In the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the figure decreased to 1, in the Sverdlovsk Region, the spread rate hit 1.02, in the Voronezh Region, it amounted to 1.03 and in the Irkutsk Region, the figure stood at 1.04. In the Krasnoyarsk Region, the COVID-19 spread rate fell to 1.05 (a new low since June 9), while in the Rostov Region, it remained unchanged and in the Samara Region, it was 1.09.

The coronavirus spread rate indicates the average number of people that one person can infect before isolation. Along with other criteria, this figure is used to determine, whether the regions are ready to lift the restrictive measures introduced last spring to combat the pandemic. Currently, the spread rate is particularly applied in terms of the decisions on holding mass events in the region.