Mongolia will transfer in-person classes for all general educational schools to online classes, said the Ministry of Education and Science on 18 December.

In addition, online classes will be available for students in grades sixth to twelfth for a week, running from Dec. 25 to the beginning of the winter vacation.

Since the beginning of last week, a strong cold front that originated in Siberia, Russia, has been sweeping across extensive areas of Mongolia, causing temperature drops and bringing strong winds and blizzards.

Children’s wards in hospitals across the country, especially in the capital of Ulan Bator, the world’s coldest capital city and home to nearly half of the country’s child population, are now being overcrowded due to a significant increase in the prevalence of seasonal flu, according to the Health Ministry.

Mongolia’s climate is strongly continental, with long and frigid weather. A temperature of minus 25 degrees Celsius is normal during winter in Mongolia where the peak flu season runs from December to February.