ULAN BATOR, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga proposed providing financial support to all households across the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the president's press office reported Tuesday.
The proposal was submitted to the country's Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh after the country imposed a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19.
"At a time of strict lockdown, the country's economy and people's livelihood will not be able to withstand for a long time," Battulga said, ordering the prime minister to take immediate and decisive action.
The president said that the government should develop a program to provide financial support of 1 million Mongolian tugriks (about 350 U.S. dollars) for each household in the country by Jan. 1 next year.
As of 2019, Mongolia has more than 890,000 households, according to the country's National Statistics Office.
Mongolia entered a state of public disaster preparedness and imposed a nationwide 24-hour lockdown from 6:00 a.m. local time last Thursday (2200 GMT on Wednesday) with effect until Dec. 1 after reporting the first locally transmitted COVID-19 case.
As of Tuesday evening, the Asian country has registered 440 COVID-19 cases, including 27 locally transmitted cases.
So far, the locally transmitted cases have been reported in the capital city Ulan Bator, Selenge province in northern Mongolia and its neighboring Darkhan-Uul province. Enditem
