Mongolia's COVID-19 daily cases exceed 1,000 for 1st time since November

ULAN BATOR, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia registered 1,040 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, exceeding the 1,000 mark for the first time since Nov. 11, bringing the national tally to 394,797, the country's health ministry said on Saturday.

Among the latest confirmed infections, 45 were imported from abroad, the ministry said.

Less than 400 infections had been reported daily in the country until Tuesday, when the number of daily infections resurged due to New Year celebrations.

The viral disease has claimed 1,997 lives after two more patients aged over 40 died in the past day.

In addition, the Asian country on Friday confirmed its first 12 cases of the Omicron variant.

So far, 66.5 percent of Mongolia's population of 3.4 million have received two COVID-19 vaccine doses, while 934,120 people aged over 18 have received the third dose.

Starting from Friday, the country has offered a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine to its citizens on a voluntary basis.