Mongolia will enter a state of public disaster preparedness and impose a nationwide 24-hour lockdown with effect from 6 a.m. Thursday for five days to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's Deputy Prime Minister Yangu Sodbaatar said Wednesday night.

"The government made this decision to prevent the wider spread of COVID-19 or identify all people who had contact with locally transmitted COVID-19 cases," Sodbaatar said, urging citizens to stay home and maintain good personal hygiene.

Within the framework of the decision, certain entities, such as grocery stores, supermarkets, food markets, gas stations, pharmacies, hospitals and power plants, are allowed to operate normally.

The country has 384 confirmed COVID-19 cases so far, with no deaths.