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Global coronavirus cases rise to more than 11 million

The United States reported more than 55,400 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, a new daily global record as infections rose in a majority of states. Several U.S. governors halted plans to reopen their state economies in the face of a surge in cases.

Almost a quarter of the known global deaths have occurred in the United States – nearly 129,000. A recent surge in cases has put President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis under a microscope and led several governors to halt plans to reopen their states after strict lockdowns.

Latin America, where Brazil has 1.5 million cases, makes up 23% of the global total of people infected. India has become the new epicenter in Asia, rising to 625,000 cases.

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Insurers anticipated a pandemic but could have responded better,says exec

David Williams, managing director of underwriting and technical services at AXA Insurance UK PLC.said the industry’s response to previous virus outbreaks, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, and the H5N1 avian flu strain, was “why we’ve ended up in a situation where 98% of business interruption policies in the U.K. don’t include the impacts of COVID-19.”

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Novartis pays $729 mn to settle US charges that it paid doctors kickbacks

Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan called the incentives for doctors “nothing more than bribes” and said federal healthcare programs paid hundreds of millions of dollars in reimbursements for prescriptions tainted by kickbacks.

“Giving these cash payments and other lavish goodies interferes with the duty of doctors to choose the best treatment for their patients and increases drug costs for everyone,” Strauss said in a statement.

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