We did not detect a single domestic case until March 9. One French national working in the southern province of Dornogovi was discovered to have had coronavirus. Since that day, the Ministry of Health has been conducting daily situation briefings to talk about how many cases were imported, what the high-risk areas are. After that case was announced, people became even more obedient to our directives. But we were so ready for this case. We really had enough time to prepare.
For that French national, we undertook very extensive contact tracing and identified 120 people who had had some contact with him. This is not the first time we have done contact tracing; it has been part of the mandate of the National Center of Communicable Diseases since its inception. We do this for all kinds of disease, including sexually transmitted diseases.
We also opened a dedicated, 24-hour covid hotline. People were getting all kinds of wrong information from social media. One big hoax was that because Mongolians eat very healthily and live in traditional nomadic lifestyles, we would not get the virus and had a “natural immunity.” Another big one was that because it is cold and dry, the virus does not survive here, and it only survives in warm and wet climates. Today, even the majority of herders and nomadic people have satellite TV with solar energy, so they can still access information.
One side effect of this lockdown has been a significant reduction in cases of seasonal flu, pneumonia (a very serious problem every year), and foodborne and digestive illness.
Every day, we are still concerned, but our people are getting less worried. It’s summer now; the weather is getting nicer. People are going for picnics, riding horses. We have set up a lot of temperature checks at recreation spots in the countryside. Almost all the public spaces, starting with the malls and pharmacies, still require masks. But we realize that in the rural areas, wearing a mask every day is not possible.
We don’t know how long the state of emergency will last. Some of our highest officials have said we will close our borders indefinitely. We cannot take anything for granted. In Japan, they lifted restrictions and the virus came back. Until the end of this summer, we are not easing quarantine at all. But schools will have to start in September. What we still recommend every day to the public is to stay ready, because community transmission might be just around the corner.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
