[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] As the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis deepens, countries that have implemented strict lockdown measures, such as banning the entry of Chinese nationals from the early stages of the outbreak?including Mongolia, Russia, and Indonesia?are drawing attention. Countries that enforced lockdown measures have reported relatively fewer confirmed cases compared to those that did not. The World Health Organization (WHO) and international infectious disease experts explain that although lockdown strategies have limitations, they remain one of the most effective responses.
According to foreign media including Japan's Asahi Shimbun, Mongolia, which shares a border of over 5,000 km with China, has not reported any confirmed COVID-19 cases to date. This is seen as evidence that the thorough border lockdown strategy with China has been effective. Since the 1st of this month, the Mongolian government has completely blocked the entry of Chinese nationals and banned coal exports to China. Considering that exports to China accounted for over 90% of Mongolia's total exports last year, this represents a very extreme lockdown strategy. Additionally, as the COVID-19 outbreak worsened in Korea, the Mongolian government also suspended flights to Korea until the 11th of next month.
Russia, which closed its borders with both China and Mongolia from the 3rd of this month and completely banned the entry of Chinese nationals from the 20th, is also evaluated as having an effective lockdown strategy. So far, the cumulative confirmed cases in Russia are two Chinese nationals who entered Russia at the end of last month; they were isolated and treated in medical facilities in Siberia before returning to China. Since then, no additional confirmed cases have been reported in Russia. The Russian government announced that it will also suspend flights to Korea starting from the 1st of next month to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Indonesia has also taken a tough stance from the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak and has not reported any confirmed cases so far. From the 5th of this month, the Indonesian government imposed entry restrictions on all visitors who have been to mainland China within the past 14 days and suspended visa-free entry and visa issuance for Chinese nationals. Myanmar, which has also not announced any confirmed cases yet, stopped issuing arrival visas to Chinese tourists from the beginning of this month. Earlier, a Chinese civil aviation flight from Guangzhou was turned back because one passenger showed cold symptoms.
On the other hand, in Cambodia, where the pro-China government took no initial measures, public distrust is deepening. The Cambodian government officially announced one confirmed case on the 27th of last month. However, distrust in the diagnostic system increased after a passenger from the cruise ship Westerdam, which Cambodian health authorities allowed to dock and disembark passengers claiming no confirmed cases, tested positive after traveling to Malaysia and being diagnosed by Malaysian health authorities.
Laos, a representative pro-China and communist country in Southeast Asia, did not implement special measures during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak but began closing border area roads and banning flights to China from the beginning of this month. Although no official confirmed cases have been reported, distrust in government statistics is growing due to inadequate diagnostic equipment and other resources.
Global infectious disease experts regard border closures as one of the most certain measures to prevent the spread of epidemics. According to The New York Times (NYT), Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stated, "While there are clearly limitations, border closures and strict quarantine inspections are effective in slowing the spread and buying time for vaccine development." Bruce Aylward, WHO assistant director-general, also praised China's lockdown of Hubei Province's Wuhan city and 14 other major COVID-19 outbreak cities, calling lockdown measures "the oldest and most effective strategy."
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