Fuel price to be gradually lowered by MNT200 per liter www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. At today’s irregular meeting, the Cabinet assigned to work for cutting a retail price of fuel by MNT50 per liter and further gradually lower it by up to MNT200 in consistence with world market price, said Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry D.Sumiyabazar.

ADB provides $1.4 Million to strengthen Mongolia's COVID-19 preparedness www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has reallocated $1.4 million from a health project in Mongolia to procure essential medical equipment for early detection, emergency care, and management of severe respiratory diseases in wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB also approved a $225,000 small-scale technical assistance to strengthen Mongolia’s national capacity for infection prevention and control.

“This ADB assistance will improve its ability to respond to and contain the spread of a potential COVID-19 outbreak in the country,” said ADB Country Director for Mongolia Pavit Ramachandran. “Building readiness in hospitals and strengthening preparedness are areas identified by the government as among the most pressing requiring immediate assistance.”

The $1.4 million in funds is reprogrammed from the Fifth Health Sector Development Project for Mongolia. ADB approved a concessional loan of $30 million for the project in December 2012 to strengthen safe blood transfusion, medical waste management, and hospital hygiene and infection prevention and control.

The reallocated funds are providing more than 570 pieces of equipment for diagnosis and treatment of patients with respiratory conditions at 30 district and provincial general hospitals and 4 tertiary level hospitals in Mongolia. The equipment includes portable digital X-rays, ventilators, patient monitors, oxygen concentrators, infusion, and injection pumps and nebulizers.

The small-scale technical assistance will assist in strengthening national resources mapping and coordination. It will introduce an incident management approach and train health workers on infection prevention and control at national and local levels.

ADB has played a key role in strengthening Mongolia’s health system since 1993, providing seven loans totaling $167.04 million, eight grants for $40.48 million, and 18 technical assistance projects amounting to $13.45 million. The projects have supported reforms in primary health care, hospital services, and medicine procurement; the establishment of a health insurance framework; and the development of health infrastructure in the capital city and aimag (provincial) centers.

ADB’s COVID-19 response in Asia and the Pacific to date includes $2 million to enhance detection, prevention, and response in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Greater Mekong Subregion; another $2 million to support response in all its developing members; and a CNY130 million ($18.6 million) private sector loan to a pharmaceutical distributor, Jointown Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd., in Wuhan, PRC to support the continued supply of essential medicines and personal protective equipment.

ADB also approved a $3 million grant to support the Philippine government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the purchase of emergency medical supplies and the delivery of effective health care services. ADB also made available $200 million through its Supply Chain Finance Program for companies manufacturing and distributing medicines and other items needed to combat the pandemic.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

Asian Development Bank

Mongolia reports sixth Covid-19 case as evacuates its citizens www.news.mn

Mongolia reported today (18 March), its sixth Covid-19 case after two people returned who had returned on a flight from Berlin two days ago were confirmed as having coronavirus . The sixth patient was first tested using a rapid testing kit and the result was confirmed later today by the central laboratory of the National Research Center of Communicable Diseases, reports NRCD Director D.Nyamkhuu, Director.

ECB launches emergency $820bn coronavirus package www.bbc.com

The European Central Bank (ECB) has launched an emergency €750bn ($820bn; £706bn) package to ease the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mongolia increases climate change ambition with actions that improve air quality and human health www.ccacoalition.org

Almost half (45 per cent) of Mongolia’s 3.2 million people live in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, which like other Mongolian cities, have air pollution concentrations almost six times higher than World Health Organisation air quality guidelines for the protection of human health. This has prompted the Mongolian government to identify improving air quality as a key development priority.

In 2019, in Mongolia’s Voluntary National Review on the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, Prime Minister Khurelsukh Ukhnaa described air pollution as a ‘complex, multifaceted development challenge’.

Air pollution exposure in Mongolian cities has increased the prevalence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and increased healthcare expenditure. The health of Mongolian children is significantly impacted, with air pollution levels 3-10 times higher in Ulaanbaatar’s classrooms than Mongolia’s air quality standard.

This winter (2019/2020), air quality in Ulaanbaatar was better than previous years due to a Government ban on raw coal consumption in the city’s ger and households districts, but air pollution issues in Ulaanbaatar and Aimags (administrative subdivisions) remain challenging.

Mongolia is also vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which threatens the country’s water and food security, and biodiversity. The government has recognised that there is substantial opportunity to improve air quality while simultaneously mitigating climate change and is working to tackle both issues through ambitious climate commitments.

Air pollution and climate change are closely linked. Some pollutants, such as black carbon and methane (both short-lived climate pollutants) contribute directly to air pollution and climate change, and many sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are also sources of air pollutants. In Mongolia, this is also the case, coal consumption by households, and for power generation, as well as emissions from industry, agriculture and road transport are the major source both of GHGs, short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), and other air pollutants.

With support from the CCAC’s Supporting National Action & Planning on SLCP mitigation (SNAP) initiative, an assessment was undertaken to identify the air pollution benefits that could be achieved as Mongolia revised its climate change commitment in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

The assessment, "Opportunities from taking integrated actions on air pollution and climate change in Mongolia", first identified the major sources of SLCPs, greenhouse gases and air pollutants. This includes agriculture, transport, and coal consumption for household heating and cooking (responsible for over 50% of black carbon emissions in Mongolia), and for electricity and heat generation.

Mongolia's National UNFCCC Focal Point
The assessment then modelled the implementation of eight mitigation measures that make up Mongolia’s revised climate change mitigation commitment. These include actions on electricity and heat generation, energy efficiency in industry and buildings, and reducing the number of livestock in agriculture.

“Mongolia’s revised NDC will increase the GHG reduction target up to 22.7% in 2030 compared to a business as usual scenario,” said Dr Batjargal Zamba, National Focal Point for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). “However, the important finding from this assessment is that by achieving climate change mitigation goals we will also succeed in having benefits in different areas including improved air quality.”

The full implementation of the eight mitigation actions identified in this assessment will lead to a 12% reduction in black carbon emissions, 9% reduction in primary fine particulate (PM2.5) emissions, and a 10% reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in 2030 compared to a business as usual scenario.
“The air pollution benefits that can be achieved by implementing Mongolia’s revised NDC are on top of the existing actions being taken or planned that specifically tackle air quality in Ulaanbaatar,” Dr Damdin Davgadorj, assessment lead author, said. “When we evaluated the implementation of Mongolia’s NDC and planned air quality actions, the expected benefits were even greater.”

By implementing both Mongolia’s climate change commitment and planned air pollution actions emissions are reduced further—black carbon by 26%, PM2.5 emissions by 17%, and NOx emissions by 22% in 2030 compared to a Business as Usual scenario.

“The assessment highlights important additional next steps for Mongolia for climate change and air pollution mitigation,” said Dr Jargal Dorjpurev, an author on the study.

“On air pollution mitigation, a significant proportion of air pollutant emissions occur in cities outside Ulaanbaatar, and actions need to also be planned in these to improve air quality across the country,” Dr Dorjpurev said. “On climate change, a clear pathway to 2030 is communicated in the revised NDC. Now a long-term strategy to 2050 to decarbonise the Mongolian economy is needed, which maximises the benefits for Mongolian citizens, including ensuring clean air for all.”

“The benefits to local air quality from increasing climate change ambition are clearly shown in global and regional assessments. I congratulate Mongolia for putting this into action and increasing the mitigation ambition in their NDC in a way that will contribute to solving their substantial air pollution,” Helena Molin Valdés, Head of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition Secretariat said. “All countries now revising their NDCs should evaluate what additional actions that improve air quality can be incorporated to increase climate change mitigation ambition and achieve local development and health benefits.”

Mongolia is one of over 20 countries receiving support on SLCPs and integrated air pollution and climate change planning as part of the Coalition’s SNAP initiative. The support provided is tailored to each country, ranging from initial assessments of major emission sources, development of National Action Plans, to integration of SLCPs within climate change planning processes.

Mongolia has been a member of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition since 2014.

Banks to allow customers to defer loan repayment for 90 days www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Today, March 18, Cabinet’s regular meeting was organized to touch on current economic state of Mongolia and steps to take concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mongolia delays opening Chinese border for coal exports www.news.mn

Mongolia has extended its ban on coal exports for a second time as the number of coronavirus cases within the country increases.

Facebook has a coronavirus problem. It's WhatsApp www.cnn.com

London (CNN Business)Governments and medical officials are scrambling to provide the public with accurate and timely information about the novel coronavirus. But those efforts are being undermined by the spread of medical misinformation and fake cures on one of the world's most popular messaging platforms.

WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook (FB), is coming under renewed scrutiny over how it handles misinformation as the coronavirus pandemic rampages across the globe, infecting more than 200,000 people and killing over 8,000, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The platform is being used to spread messages that often contain a mixture of accurate and misleading claims that have been debunked by medical experts. The problem is now so acute that world leaders are urging people to stop sharing unverified information using the app.
"I am urging everyone to please stop sharing unverified info on WhatsApp groups," Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Monday on Twitter. "These messages are scaring and confusing people and causing real damage. Please get your info from official, trusted sources."
People are being encouraged to put up Christmas lights to spread cheer while they're social distancing
People are being encouraged to put up Christmas lights to spread cheer while they're social distancing
The misinformation often arrives on smartphones in messages that have been forwarded by a friend or relative, and includes information purportedly from a prominent doctor or a friend of a friend who works in government. Many of the messages mix sound advice, such as how to wash your hands properly, with misinformation. One false claim that is circulating: drinking warm water every 15 minutes will neutralize the coronavirus.
Because WhatsApp messages are encrypted in a way that allows them to be seen only by the sender and recipient, public health officials and watchdog groups are struggling to track the spread of coronavirus misinformation. WhatsApp itself does not monitor the flow of messages on the platform.
"It is clear ... that a lot of false information continues to appear in the public sphere. In particular, we need to understand better the risks related to communication on end-to-end encryption services," European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová, who oversees the bloc's efforts to fight disinformation, said in a statement Tuesday.
WhatsApp says it has taken steps to curb misinformation, it is donating to fact checking groups and users can forward messages to special accounts that can verify information.
"There are over a dozen [local fact checkers] so far, and we want more to be able to do their important work so rumors are identified and countered," Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, said Wednesday on Twitter.

WhatsApp is promoting the fact checking organizations and health ministries on Facebook, with free and special clickable ads that pull up a new WhatsApp chat with the corresponding organization.
Jourová welcomed the new measures but suggested more needs to be done to address the issue of misinformation.
"WhatsApp has informed the Commission about some measures it put in place to limit the spread of disinformation, but most of the problematic content seems to be the so-called organic content, i.e. generated by users themselves," she said.
Misinformation spreads
In recent days, CNN Business has seen multiple versions of a message with information purportedly from medical professionals concerning four young people infected with coronavirus who had been taking anti inflammatory drugs.
In one version, written in English, the young people are hospitalized in Cork, Ireland. In another, written in Hebrew, they are in Toulouse, France. Medical officials in both cities have dismissed the story of the four young people as fake. (For more on anti inflammatory drugs and coronavirus, click here.)
One popular — but incorrect — theme is that "hot fluids neutralize the virus, so avoid drinking ice water," or that drinking water every 15 to 20 minutes will flush the virus to your stomach where it will be killed by acid.
An image spread on WhatsApp and other platforms shows an illustration of a human head and throat. The accompanying message, written in Spanish, claims that drinking a lot of water and gargling with salt or vinegar will eliminate the virus. "Spread this information because you could save someone," it says.
Medical experts and the World Health Organization say that while staying hydrated is important, drinking hot or cold water, or gargling, does not prevent the coronavirus infection.
Other messages sent on WhatsApp have warned that countries will go on lockdown and that people need to stock up on supplies. In the United States, the messages claim the lockdown is part of the "Stafford Act" and that people should "stock up on whatever you guys need to make sure you have a two week supply of everything." The US National Security Council tweeted that this message is fake.
While similar messages are being shared via text and on other social media, their proliferation on WhatsApp and the difficulty in stopping them makes the service an outlier compared to sister platforms Facebook and Instagram, which have taken more robust and direct efforts to combat coronavirus misinformation. (All three platforms are owned by Facebook.)
How to stop the spread
WhatsApp, which compares itself to traditional SMS text services instead of social media platforms, encrypts conversations, meaning they only live on users' phones. Though encryption is seen as a plus for security, WhatsApp is blind to what's being said in messages — and that makes it difficult to police or moderate content.

On Facebook, third party fact checkers hunt down misinformation, and when they mark something as false, users are shown a message that directs them to a correcting or clarifying post before they are permitted to share the misinformation.
Cristina Tardáguila, associate director of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), suggested last week that WhatsApp could include a message asking people "are you sure this is true?" before they send a message related to coronavirus.
But Carl Woog, a WhatsApp spokesperson, told CNN Business that it's not something the platform would be able to do because WhatsApp is encrypted, and that "passing remote judgment on deciding what can be sent and not be sent in a real time message would be unprecedented" for a text or SMS service.
Aviv Ovadya, founder of the Thoughtful Technology Project, pointed out on Twitter that WhatsApp has developed prompts for when users are sent suspicious website links. But the misinformation about the coronavirus shared on WhatsApp is often in plain text form.

WhatsApp has made efforts to assist health officials in getting accurate information to the public.
On Wednesday, the company announced it had donated $1 million to the IFCN, launched a coronavirus information page and said it would help organizations like the WHO and UNICEF provide messaging hotlines for people around the world.
Health ministries in countries such as Israel, Singapore, South Africa and Indonesia are already providing updates directly on WhatsApp, through automated accounts.
Last year, WhatsApp imposed limits on how many times a message could be forwarded, after viral hoax messages in India contributed to more than a dozen lynchings in 2018. Users can now only forward one message to five chats, and group sizes are limited to 256 members. Woog said these measures have decreased forwards on the service by 25%.
Ultimately experts say some of the best ways to counter misinformation are public education, teaching people about the coronavirus and how to be smart consumers of information.
But when asked whether WhatsApp would consider sending a mass message to all users, urging them to seek accurate information from official sources, Woog said it's not something they're technically able or planning to do.
"We believe the most important thing we can do is to empower health ministries and doctors to engage with citizens and patients right on WhatsApp," said Woog.

Mongolia to face Covid-19 economic impact from June www.news.mn

The UN’s trade and development agency says the slowdown in the global economy caused by the coronavirus outbreak is likely to cost at least $1 trillion. The recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus has affected the global industry logistics system. Specially, industries directly depend on China have shut down quickly as border restrictions and travel bans have come into force. However, the world has still not felt the real impact caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, explained economists. The great impact on the global economy will begin from mid-March and the sharp downturn of Chinese industries will continue in April, reported HBR.

Passenger trains being decontaminated prior to their departures www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Prior to their journeys, domestic trains of Ulaanbaatar Railway JSC are going under decontamination in both the interior and exterior. The body temperatures of passengers are also being checked every 2 hours.