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Cabinet supported a draft of the COVID-19 Additional Financing Agreement for outbreak prevention. Cabinet will acquire a soft loan of 50.7 million USD from the World Bank, which will be used to obtain, transport, safely store, and distribute vaccines to immunize up to 60 percent of the population. The loan funds will also be spent on related training for healthcare workers.
Cabinet also approved financing to improve secondary school cafeterias and provide higher quality lunches for students as part of the Lunch Program.
Cabinet members voted to submit draft legislation to Parliament on extending the enrollment term for herders and people who are self-employed who want to enroll in pension programs by paying insurance premiums in bulk. The previous term expired on December 31, 2020. During lockdown measures, about 18,000 herders and the self-employed have enrolled in the pension program, 62 percent of all eligible citizens for the pension program. Cabinet plans to extend the enrollment term until January 1, 2022.
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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health submit resignation requests
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Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia Ya. Sodbaatar and Minister of Health T. Munkhsaikhan submitted their resignation requests to Prime Minister U. Khurelsukh on January 20.
This week, protestors demanded that the heads of the National Emergency Commission (NEC) resign after photos emerged of a new mother, who had tested positive for COVID-19, being moved to the National Center for Communicable Diseases with her newborn baby without wearing any outerwear in the coldest season of the year. The public saw the photo as evidence of inhumane treatment and demanded that NEC officials resign. As reported by Cabinet’s Media and Public Relations Division, according to the law, the prime minister will make the final decision about the resignation requests submitted.
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As of January 19, 32 new COVID-19 cases were registered in Mongolia, bringing the total number of domestic infections to 1,067. Surveillance revealed cases in 13 people from six households in Building 19 in the 12th khoroo of Bayangol District. Among the new patients was a doctor from the emergency department of the National Center for Maternal and Child Health. More than 900 employees of the center were tested yesterday. So far, the test results for more than 600 employees have been negative. The Ministry of Health said that the contact tracing process is ongoing. To date, medical staff from eight hospitals in Ulaanbaatar have tested positive for COVID-19, six of which are public hospitals.
The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in the country is 1,568, with 9.1 percent of patients being healthcare workers.
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Rio Tinto plans to increase its iron ore production by 2.8 percent in 2021
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Rio Tinto has said it will increase its iron ore production this year amid rising demand for iron ore in China. According to a recent report, the company plans to produce 325-340 million tons of iron ore in 2021, a 2.8 percent increase from 2020. Demand for iron ore is also expected to increase as countries take measures to support the economy, such as increasing budgets for construction and development.
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