Mongolia, which reported its first coronavirus cases on Tuesday (10 March), will ban people from entering and leaving its cities for six days in an effort to curb the COVID-19 outbreak.
The restriction was made after a French national who works in the country was confirmed as being infected with COVID-19.
A 57-year-old man was supposed to self-quarantine for 14 days in his hotel after he arrived at Mongolia on a flight from France, transited through Moscow on 2 March.
However, he neglected to adhere to the quarantine and visited Dornogobi province for a uranium mining project, said the country’s Health Minister Davaajantsangiin Sarangerel.
The patient has met with 42 people and had close contact with another 120 individuals who work for Badrakh Energy in southern Dornogovi province, as reported by Reuters.
Those people have been identified by the government and are currently in stable condition.
Following this, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Enkhtuvshin Ulziisaikhan announced that the capital Ulaanbaatar and all province centres will be quarantined until 16 March, in an effort to contain the transmission of COVID-19.
Mongolia has suspended all local travel in Dornogovi province, prohibited people from entering or leaving the capital or rural cities for almost a week and closed schools until the end of March.
Since COVID-19 first emerged in China, it has infected more than 100,000 people around the world. Following the outbreak, Mongolia locked its border with China and imposed travel bans from Japan and Korea until 11 March in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Similarly, Italy has imposed quarantine measures in its Northern provinces and effective until 3 April, where about 16 million Italians will require special permission to travel in or out of the areas.
The quarantine measures were implemented as the number of infected cases in Italy rose to more than 9,000 with 463 deaths reported as of 10 March so far, making it the second worst-hit country behind China.
To date, COVID-19 has affected more than 100 countries and territories around the world, causing more than 4,000 deaths. Over 110,000 have been infected worldwide.
