Mongolia’s COVID-19 cases increased by 2153 to 298,919 over the past 24 hours, reported Health Ministry on Tuesday.

The latest confirmed cases were all local infections, and around half of them were detected in the national capital of Ulaanbaatar, which is home to half of Mongolia’s population of around 3.4 million.

The viral disease has claimed 1242 lives in the country since its first case was confirmed in March last year.

There are now over 89,402 active COVID-19 cases in the country, and most of them are receiving home-based care due to a shortage of hospital beds and medical staff. The country’s health authorities have urged the public to follow all relevant health guidelines as the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus is spreading fast across the country.

So far, 65.4 percent of the country’s population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 since a nationwide vaccination campaign was launched in late February.