Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Mongolia reported 2,746 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, the highest daily increase since the pandemic hit the country last year, according to the Ministry of Health. Daily COVID-19 press briefing for today, June 18, Friday reported that 2,746 new coronavirus cases were detected nationwide in the past 24 hours. 

In specific, 1,876 new cases were confirmed in Ulaanbaatar city and 860 cases were detected in rural regions, including Orkhon, Darkhan-Uul, Bulgan, Selenge, Khuvsgul, Khovd, Tuv, Arkhangai, Tuv, Khentii, Dornod, Uvurkhangai, Bayankhongor, Uvs, Bayan-Ulgii, Zavkhan and Gobi-Altai aimags. Moreover, three of the new cases are hospital-acquired cases and seven cases are imported from abroad. 

As a result, the nationwide infection tally is now 88,516, with the cases registered in the capital city grown to 73,844.

In the last 24 hours, a total of 2,505 patients were recovered, making the total number of COVID-19 recoveries 61,725. Among them were 723 coronavirus patients discharged from hospitals and 1,782 patients who were staying under home isolation. As of June 18, a total of 19,758 coronavirus patients are being treated, t more than 50 hospitals and clinics or under home isolation in Ulaanbaatar city and the rural aimags. 

Some 193 patients’ health are in serious conditions, reports the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD), the primary healthcare organization in the country responding to the pandemic. 15,899 patients who are experiencing mild symptoms are being treated at home under surveillance of family health clinic while taking home isolation precautions. There are 470 pregnant women and 2,014 children among people tested positive for COVID-19. 

NCCD also reported 11 new COVID-19 related deaths, raising the country's death toll to 411. The casualties are COVID-19 patients aged between 34 and 92 years old, who were staying under coronavirus treatment.  

As of June 18, a total of 1,903,859 people aged over 16 years old have received the first dose of vaccines against COVID-19, equal to 92.2 percent of the nationwide vaccination target – 2,067,292 adult populations or 60 percent of the total population of Mongolia. Among them, 1,684,287 people or 81.6 percent of the vaccination target have gotten their second shots. Starting this week, Mongolia has been vaccinating pregnant women and children between 16 and 17 years old on a voluntary basis. 

The government of Mongolia has collected a total of 4,832,780 doses of vaccines, including AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Sputnik-V and Pfizer-BioNTech through procurement and international assistances.