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Microsoft to let employees work from home permanently: Report

“The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged all of us to think, live and work in new ways,” Microsoft’s Chief People Officer Kathleen Hogan said in a note to employees obtained by the tech news outlet.

“We will offer as much flexibility as possible to support individual workstyles, while balancing business needs and ensuring we live our culture.”

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Maharashtra becomes first state to regulate prices of masks during COVID-19 pandemic

According to the recommendation of the committee, the N-95 mask will be available for around Rs 19 to Rs 50 depending on the type, while the double and triple layer masks will be available for just Rs 3 to 4. The process of deciding on the price fixed by the committee is in the final stage and after the approval of the government, it will be mandatory to sell the masks at the revised rate, said an official release.

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WHO reports record one-day rise in global coronavirus cases amid European outbreak

As a region, Europe is now reporting more cases than India, Brazil or the United States.
According to a Reuters analysis of more recent country data, COVID-19 infections are rising in 54 countries, including surges in Argentina, Canada and much of Europe. 

Infections in the United Kingdom have reached record levels with over 17,000 new cases reported on Thursday.

“We are seeing a definite and sustained increase in cases and admissions to hospital. The trend is clear, and it is very concerning,” said Dr Yvonne Doyle, medical director for Public Health England.

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Hedge funds make pandemic bet on insurance

Investors reckon that in a world where virus outbreaks and climate disasters may be the new normal, innovative new insurance products such as those providing relief during future lockdowns or when staff sickness hinders business, will prove lucrative.

Even while share prices remain subdued, insurers’ debt sales for the most part have been oversubscribed this year, thanks to strong credit quality, typically in the single-A category.

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World Bank praises efforts to arrest COVID-19 spread in Mumbai’s Dharavi

Dharavi, which is located in India’s commercial capital Mumbai, is spread over an area of 2.5 square kilometres and has a population of 650,000. People live in shanties and dilapidated buildings with narrow lanes and open sewers.

Observing that effective approaches have tapped the skills and dedication of community members, the World Bank said that in Mumbai, city officials were able to stem the rapid spread of the coronavirus in Dharavi, one of the city’s largest urban settlements, by mobilising community members and staff from private medical clinics for a strategy based on mass screening for fever and oxygen levels.

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