Category:

Disaster & Management

Covid-19 cases in India reaches 23,502,death toll rises to 718

“The growth of COVID-19 cases has been more or less linear, not exponential; this indicates that the strategies we adopted have succeeded in containing the infection to a particular level. Post imposition of lockdown, while the number of new positive cases has increased by 16 times, testing increased by 24 times,” Mishra said in his presentation.

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Covid-19 Pandemic:IRDAI asks insurers not to pay any dividends for FY 2019-20

“In view of the emerging market conditions, and to conserve capital with the insurance companies in the interests of the policyholders and of the economy at large,insurers are urged to take a conscious call to refrain from dividend pay-outs from profits pertaining to the financial year ending 31st March 2020, till further instructions. This position shall be reassessed by the IRDAI based on financial results of insurers for the quarter ending 30th September, 2020,” said IRDAI on Friday.

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Mortality rates drop sharply in parts of India, bucking coronavirus trend

But emergency room doctors, officials, and crematoriums noted that strict lockdowns had cut the number of road traffic accidents and deaths on India’s packed railways, and may also be deterring relatives from reporting a family death.

All over the world, mortality rates are being scrutinised to determine the true impact of the coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year and is known to have infected more than 2.7 million people globally, with nearly 190,000 deaths.

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India battles supply snags in race to build affordable ventilators

Before the pandemic, hospitals invested less in ventilators as they are expensive and the devices were available mainly in some hospitals in bigger Indian cities, Bhowmick added.

But companies are now pushing to make affordable devices.

Dynamatic Technologies is making a $33 ventilator that does not need electricity to function, while AgVa is aiming to make 10,000 ventilators by mid-May, priced under $2,000.

AgVa is collaborating with automaker Maruti Suzuki and state-run Bharat Electronics to make parts.

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COVID-19 claims so far likely to be manageable; reinsurers de-risking:Willis Re Report

Reinsurers have showed that the systemic shock of COVID-19 is manageable so far, but the future strength of the sector depends on the severity of the pandemic’s continuing impact on health and economies. The industry retains sufficient capital buffer for extreme events, but the extent to which reinsurers can withstand continued asset-side volatility and increased claims emergence remains to be seen.

Reinsurers have started to de-risk their balance sheets by holding cash, which will have a significant impact on investment returns. Willis Re currently estimates a 5% hit to the global reinsurance capital base, roughly US$30 billion pre-tax.

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‘Virus will be with us for a long time’, WHO chief warns

“Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics and some that were affected early in the pandemic are starting to see a resurgence in cases,” Tedros told Geneva journalists in a virtual briefing.

“Make no mistake we have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time,” he said, while noting that epidemics in Western Europe appear to be stabilising or declining.

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