Russia Outbreak Spreads to Neighbor as Mongolian Cases Jump
Russia Outbreak Spreads to Neighbor With Jump in Mongolian Cases
(Bloomberg) --
Mongolia recorded its biggest one-day increase in coronavirus cases, with most of the infections in students returning home from emerging virus hotspot Russia.
Health officials reported 56 confirmed cases of the virus Thursday, all of them recent arrivals from nearby Russia, where the outbreak has ballooned to more than 250,000 cases, overtaking Italy and Spain as the second-highest tally globally after the U.S.
“Testing of the people from abroad is under way,” Nyamkhuu Dulmaa, director of the National Center for Communicable Diseases, said. “Diagnostics, shelter and personal protective equipment are adequately prepared.”
While Mongolia’s domestic outbreak has been relatively small -- with 98 cases as of Thursday -- the deteriorating situation in Russia poses a risk to Mongolia given the two countries’ traditional ties. Many Mongolians work and study in Russia, which is one of the former Soviet state’s biggest trading partners, and the two countries share a 2,000-mile land border. Mongolia has been repatriating citizens from around the world as the virus spread.
China, where the virus first emerged late last year, has also seen cases from Russia. The northern province of Heilongjiang has imposed strict controls in response to a number of imported infections, with travelers required to undertake 35 days of quarantine.
While China’s epidemic has largely been brought under control, the country is seeing a second wave in the province of Jilin, which shares a small stretch of border with Russia, as well as North Korea, where the virus situation is unclear. Two cities in Jilin have been placed under lockdown amid a growing resurgence in cases.
Mongolia’s location -- it also shares a border with China -- and vulnerable health-care system saw it act relatively quickly to the virus threat. The government imposed curbs on international travel and people entering the country are quarantined for 21 days. The capital, Ulaanbaatar, has been locked down since March, when Mongolia identified its first case of Covid-19. Schools in the country have been closed since January, and restaurants and bars in Ulaanbaatar are subject to a 10 p.m. curfew.
Mongolia’s mining sector, which comprised nearly a quarter of the economy in 2019, has been impacted by the restrictions and the disruption to global demand wrought by the virus. Data on first-quarter gross domestic product is due Friday, with economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicting the economy contracted 3.9%.
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