Coronavirus: Mongolia delivers PPE equipment to US as Covid-19 infections soar

While US has more than 2.3m Covid infections, total in Mongolia is 215

The nation of Mongolia has delivered 60,000 items of personal protective equipment to America, as coronavirus infections in the US continue to soar.

The total known infections in the US has now reached 2.3m, with more than 120,000 deaths. On Tuesday, officials said new daily infections had reached their highest level for two months, with at least 34,700 cases.

Anthony Fauci, the US’s top infectious diseases expert, testified before Congress that there was a new surge of infections, as many states pushed to reopen their economies.

FEMA official Michael O’Hare accepts donation from Mongolian ambassador Yondon Otgonbayar (Courtesy Embassy of Mongolia)

“A couple of days ago there were 30,000 new infections in a single day,” he said. “That’s very troubling to me.”

Meanwhile, Mongolia, which for six decades lived under communist rule before fighting for and securing a democracy in 1990, has delivered 60,000 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE).

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The items will be delivered to the Navajo Nation indigenous community, which saw one of the single largest outbreaks in the country and was one of the least well prepared to handle it. The community of 175,000 has had at least 7,000 infections, one of the highest rates in the US.

On Sunday, a Mongolian Airlines flight landed at Seattle International Airport, for what is believed to have been the first time. Officials said it was the first ever direct flight between the US and Mongolia.

Last year, the two countries signed an agreement on political and economic cooperation, perhaps to try and counter Chinese influence. At the time, officials stressed that Mongolia was a “reliable” democracy in the region.

Pilots on the tarmac in Seattle were confused when they saw the markings on the Mongolian Airlines’s Boeing’s 767, which was named Chinggis Khan, or Genghis Khan, for the 12th Century emperor who ruled what is now Mongolia and much of central Asia.

“This flight is doubly important as it carries 60,000 [items of PPE] donated by the government of Mongolia, to the people in the United States in the fight against Covid,” Mongolia’s ambassador Yondon Otgonbayar, told local media, including KIRO7 News.

Michael O’Hare, the regional administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), was present to receive the items.

“The Navajo Nation has been severely impacted by Covid-19,” he said. “And so these gowns and PPE are vital to help them meet the challenge.”

Mongolia, which has a population of just 3m people, appears to have been one of the most successful nations in confronting the coronavirus. Reports suggest it moved very quickly in January to close its border to halt the spread.

A tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University says the country has a total of 215 infections and no deaths.

The Associated Press said those diagnosed have generally been Mongolians returning from Russia and other nearby nations. The ministry of health said 158 had recovered and 57 remained in treatment and isolation.

It said on Wednesday that the country was holding parliamentary elections. It said the Mongolian People’s Party was seeking to retain the 65 seats it won in the 76-seat State Great Khural in 2016 while its chief rival, the Democratic Party, looks to win back some losses.

Despite economic problems and a high level of unemployment, it said the government had received praise for its handling of the virus. People on Wednesday were obliged to maintain a several feet between each other as they voted.

The Mongolian embassy said the plane later departed Seattle for Ulan Bator, carrying with it more than 200 Mongolian citizens stranded in the US, and several crates of dinosaur fossils that belonged to Mongolia.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press