MOSCOW, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Russia’s state statistics service will expand the basket of goods and services it uses to calculate inflation to reflect shifts in buying patterns during the coronavirus pandemic, it said on Thursday. From February, Rosstat will start publishing inflation figures that include prices for medical face masks, sanitizers, and medical imaging, it said in a statement. It will drop other items including fur hats, carpets and mobile phones without touchscreens, said Viktoria Krasnova, the deputy head of its price statistics and finances department. “The coronavirus made its changes to the composition of goods that consumers used to buy, and statistics are reacting to this,” she told Reuters. Inflation is the main policy yardstick for the central bank, which slashed interest rates to record lows in 2020. A recent uptick in consumer prices has given it less leeway to cut rates further. Inflation exceeded the central bank’s 4% target in 2020, climbing to 4.9%. It is expected to drop towards the target in the second half of 2021. In all, Rosstat will increase the number of goods and service that it uses to calculate inflation to 556 from 520. Krasnova said the additions will also include medicine and vitamins used to treat diseases related to COVID-19, computer tomography - which is used to scan lungs - carsharing and online video services. (Writing by Andrey Ostroukh Editing Katya Golubkova and John Stonestreet)