How to Understand the Coronavirus Reproduction Number: Graphic

In their assessments of local coronavirus outbreaks, global public health officials make regular reference to the reproduction number. It’s an estimate of the average number of people a single person with the virus will go on to infect at a given point in time. If it stays above one, the epidemic continues. If it drops and remains below one, the virus eventually dies out. To read a QuickTake explainer about the pandemic, click here.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Lisa Beyer in New York at lbeyer3@bloomberg.net;
Shawn Hasto in New York at shasto@bloomberg.net

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