The increase of precious metal purchase was caused by price growth of gold on the world market and that until the adoption of amendments to the related law, 10 percent royalty was imposed in the same period of last year. Moreover, the central bank’s purchase of 1.7 tons of white silver from domestic entities since the arrival of the year also affected to the increase.

Throughout February, the average price for a gram of gold stood at MNT 140.292.94. While the announced rate by the BoM on March 11 was MNT 147,096.92 for a gram of gold and MNT 1,492.43 for a gram of silver respectively.

The Central Bank has been ensuring its preparation to sell one ounce of silver bar, which is made from white silver extracted in Mongolia, as well as 1000 gram of silver bar, gold pellet packed in 4 kg and certified precious metals starting from April by the request of individuals and organizations. It will allow to launch trade of certified precious metal on the domestic market, to use them with the purpose of souvenir and small and medium business runners and craftsmen to craft jewelry items made of white silver whose origin is clear.

As of today, a total of 207 people who had direct contact with the French national have also tested negative. The 59-year-old Frenchman, was confirmed Covid-19 positive on Tuesday 10 March, being the first case in coronavirus-free Mongolia. He is now undergoing treatment at the National Centre for Communicative Diseases.

The French father of two, had been in Mongolia since 2 March, where he had arrived from Moscow on an Aeroflot flight.

The new infrastructure, including upgraded heating and sanitation systems, a river embankment, kindergarten, and business incubator center, are making the ger area cleaner, safer, and more environmentally resilient.

Some 840,000 people, 60% of the population of Ulaanbaatar and 30% of everyone in the country, live in these unplanned ger neighborhoods.

The flight landed in the Chinggis Khaan International Airport in the capital city of Ulan Bator with 244 passengers onboard, according to Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar.

After the suspension of flights due to the epidemic, the Mongolian government planned to evacuate at least 1,000 Mongolians staying in South Korea on four chartered flights, including pregnant women, the elderly and children.

After returning to their home country, the evacuees will spend 14 days in quarantine.

At yesterday’s meeting, officials of Ulaanbaatar city noted that some project implementing companies encountered several problems, such as failure to reach an agreement with landowners and lack of buyer demand for apartments built within the re-planning. Considering the issues, a working group has developed a draft to make some amendments to the regulation and the council discussed the draft, agreeing to discuss it again at the next meeting.

Also at the meeting, a re-planning of Yarmag, an emerging housing district in the western area of the city, was touched upon. It is planned that the Yaramg’s current Ger district areas will be developed as townhouse districts, and its main streets are planned to have residential apartments and buildings to be served as shops and services.

Ulaanbaatar city municipality reported that a total of 268 ha land area of Ger districts in Khan-Uul district, including the Yarmag, will be re-developed to accommodate 40200 people of 11100 households. A secondary school for 7680 students, a kindergarten for 2880 children and 770-bed hospital are planned in the area.

The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) says up to 50 million jobs could be lost because of the pandemic.

Its chief executive, Gloria Guevara, said the outbreak "presents a significant threat to the industry".

The news comes after thousands of international flights were cancelled and some insurance firms suspended travel cover for new customers.

New figures from the WTTC suggest that the travel sector could shrink by up to 25% in 2020.

The trade body is calling on governments to take several steps to protect the industry, including:

Removing or simplifying visas where possible, as well as reducing costs
Relaxing "unnecessary barriers" at ports and airports
Reduce travellers' taxes such as Air Passenger Duty
Increase budgets for promoting travel destinations.
But Ms Guevara added: "Travel and tourism has the strength to overcome this challenge and will emerge stronger."

The tourism industry has been massively affected by the spread of coronavirus, as many countries have introduced travel restrictions in an attempt to contain its spread.

Cruise ship firm Princess Cruises is suspending all operations for 18 months. One of its cruises was kept off the cost of San Francisco for five days after 21 passengers tested positive for the virus.

British Airways, EasyJet and Norwegian Air have all also cut flights in response to the outbreak.

Korean Air even warned that the coronavirus could threaten its survival.

Chinese airline passenger numbers dropped by 84.5% last month, highlighting the huge economic impact on the country where the virus originated.

Its aviation regulator said on Thursday that the drop had caused a 21bn-yuan (£2.35bn) fall in revenue.

Travel industry experts have expressed concerns about Chinese tourists being kept at home.

In the UK, for example, there were 415,000 visits from China in the 12 months to September 2019, according to VisitBritain.

Chinese travellers also spend three times more than an average visitor to the UK at £1,680 each.

As more large-scale events are cancelled and the number of flight cancellations increases, there are fears the industry could take a bigger hit.

In January 2020, the government distributed carbon monoxide detectors to all households in Ger districts in Ulaanbaatar city to prevent from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by incorrect use of the ‘smokeless’ refined coal briquettes.

Deputy Head of Ulaanbaatar Specialized Inspection Agency S.Davaasuren mentioned that during the last several days, the Ulaanbaatar Emergency Medical Center received 12 calls about mild poisoning exposure of carbon monoxide, and the inspection officers conducted examination to find that the CO detectors were turned off at the houses of people who were slightly intoxicated. Therefore, he advised the households using coal briquettes not to move or deactivate the CO detectors.

The officials at the press briefing also informed that there were a 63-percent reduction in PM10 air polluting particulates and a 50-percent decrease of PM2.5 fine particulate matter in the air compared to the same period of last year.

As the government has prohibited the use and transport of raw coals in Ulaanbaatar city since last year, corresponding officers have been taking measures to stop any illegal activities related to the raw coal. For instance, 50 kg raw coal that was being carried through a point of entry to Ulaanbaatar was confiscated and legal action was taken against the person responsible.

The attack, which researchers at Check Point dubbed "Panda-19," faked two documents from the Mongolian minister of foreign affairs. The documents were disguised as updates on the prevalence of the coronavirus cases in Mongolia, but opening them would infect the target’s computer with a tool called RoyalRoad, which would take over the devices without users' knowledge.

The hackers, who have not been identified, have been in operation since 2016 — and the outbreak of the virus has not slowed them down.

“It seems like the situation in China hasn't been affecting this group,” Lotem Finkelstein, Check Point's head of threat intelligence, told BuzzFeed News.

“It is still unclear why they were targeting these specific organizations,” Finkelstein said. “But we know that they were trying to steal documents and to remote control these systems.”

Once the attachment in the email was opened and downloaded, malware would control the infected computer, allowing the attackers to take screenshots and steal information. According to Finkelstein, gaining remote access is a “very advanced capability.”

As a result of the Panda-19 attack, Finkelstein said they were able to fingerprint the group, meaning they can now track it further and help thwart future attacks. The Chinese hackers, previously known for their operations in the Eastern Hemisphere, frequently go after high-profile targets like Russian telecom companies and targets in Ukraine and Belarus.

The coronavirus hacking attacks are going to get worse before they get better, Finkelstein said. “We have seen them active for four years with no intention to stop,” he said. “So we believe that they will use the coronavirus situation [because] it is very effective.”

Check Point has also been tracking malicious domain registrations using COVID-19 keywords. Another firm, Reason Cybersecurity, has tracked fake coronavirus tracking websites set up by hackers attempting to infect users with malware. The data is genuine, Hacker News reported — but if users were to download the app, their passwords would be stolen.

Other researchers have also pointed to a high amount of phishing emails using the coronavirus as lures. These attackers have impersonated the CDC, the World Health Organization, and executives or members of HR departments.

“Coronavirus has been exhausting for us,” Sherrod DeGrippo, senior director of the threat research and detection team at Proofpoint, previously told BuzzFeed News.