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The nationwide lockdown imposed in Armenia since March 25 has reduced the temporal reproduction number of COVID-19, Deputy Prime Minister, Commandant Tigran Avinyan said in a Facebook post on Sunday.

“Today, Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan published a chart of the dynamics of confirmed coronavirus cases, which shows that they doubled in the past 7 days.

“At the same time, it should be noted that when drawing up a policy to prevent the spread of the infection, we attach great importance to the temporal reproduction number (RT) and the effective management of its value,” he wrote.

“The coefficient indicates how many people can be potentially infected by one infected person. The higher the ratio, the more people are infected. If the coefficient is not reduced, the spread of the infection is constantly developing at a higher rate. It is on this basis that the maintenance of social distance and the restriction of interpersonal contact are seen as important means of combating the spread of the virus around the world.

“I am pleased to announce that due to the temporary restrictions imposed on the movement of people and certain types of economic activities since 25 March, the reproduction number has been reduced from around 2 values estimated a week ago to 1.4,” the commandant stressed.

Avinyan urged citizens to strictly follow the state of emergency rules this week in a bid to reduce the reproduction number below 1.

“This will mean that the spread of coronavirus is manageable and the healthcare system will be able to effectively handle potentially serious cases. As a result, we will be able to gradually ease the restrictions and go back to normal life,” he said, urging people to be more disciplined this week.