Ulan Bator, Nov 16 (IANS): The Mongolian government on Sunday extended a nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic by two weeks until December 1.

Mongolia imposed a national lockdown effective from 6 a.m. on Thursday after the country confirmed its first Covid-19 case of local transmission, involving a woman who is the wife of a 29-year-old infected Mongolian transport driver, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The driver returned home from Russia via Altanbulag border point and tested positive for the virus four days after he was released from the 21-day mandatory isolation on November 6.

The extension is part of the efforts to identify all people who have had contact with cases of locally transmitted Covid-19 infection, Yangu Sodbaatar, the country's deputy prime minister, said at a press conference.

As of Sunday, the Asian country has confirmed 428 Covid-19 cases, including around 20 domestically transmitted cases.