Category:

Pandemic

Latest

Non-life insurers to suffer longer from pandemic: Liberty General CEO

The two waves of the deadly viral infection so far have bled the general insurance industry to the tune of around Rs 27,000 crore as over 2 million customers have made industry-wide claims till early July, according to Roopam Asthana, managing director and chief executive of the mid-scale non-life player Liberty General Insurance.

Of this, the whole of FY’21 saw only about claims worth Rs 14,500 crore from around 9.8 lakh customers. As against this, the first three months of FY’22 alone have seen close to 12 lakh customers seeking over Rs 13,000 crore in refunds or cashless hospitlisation, he said and added that this is only from the second wave and no one knows what is in store for the industry as the world is fearing a third wave.

AstraZeneca resumes U.S. COVID-19 vaccine trial and next week J&J prepares to do same

AstraZeneca said that it is not unusual for some trial participants to fall ill during large scale vaccine trials but that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has reviewed all safety data from the trials globally and deemed it safe to continue testing the vaccine.

AstraZeneca trials in the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa resumed last month even as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration continued its investigation into the case.

read more

COVID-19: India records 54,366 new infections, 690 deaths

A total of 69,48,497 people have recuperated from the disease so far pushing the national recovery rate to 89.53 per cent while the case fatality rate due to COVID-19 was recorded at 1.51 per cent.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 10,01,13,085 samples have been tested up to October 22 with 14,42,722 samples being tested on Thursday.

read more

Next 3 months decisive in determining Covid situation: Harsh Vardhan

Addressing a review meeting with officials of the Uttar Pradesh government, Vardhan said, “Appropriate measures are being taken to combat COVID-19. But the next three months are going to be decisive in determining the situation of COVID in the country. If we take adequate precaution and follow COVID-appropriate behaviour in the coming festival and winter season, we will be in a better position to fight corona.”

He asserted that the state needs to focus on increasing testing, surveillance, contact tracing, and early diagnosis to keep fatality rate low.

read more

Insurers drop appeal against UK COVID-19 payout ruling on three policies

appeals linked to the Resilience, Eaton Gate Retail, and Eaton Gate Pubs & Restaurants policies have now been dropped, legal documents show, raising hopes that hundreds of vulnerable businesses could see their claims processed without further delay.

A spokesman for RSA, one of the largest of the six insurers, said it would work with broker Marsh to make interim payments where appropriate.

Businesses across the world have been locked in disputes with insurance companies over pandemic-related payouts.

read more

COVID-19: India records 55,839 new infections, 702 deaths

The active cases of coronavirus infection remained below eight lakh for the sixth consecutive day

There are 7,15,812 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which accounts for 9.29 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 9,86,70,363 samples have been tested up to October 21, of which 14,69,984 were tested on Wednesday.

read more

Number of South Koreans dying after flu shot rises, prompts vaccine worries

South Korea’s vaccines come from a variety of sources. Manufacturers include local drug makers GC Pharma, SK Bioscience and Ilyang Pharmaceutical Co, along with France’s Sanofi and Britain’s Glaxosmithkline. Distributors include LG Chem Ltd and Boryung Biopharma Co. Ltd., a unit of Boryung Pharm Co. Ltd..GC Pharma, LG Chem, SK Bioscience and Boryung declined to comment. Ilyang Pharmaceutical, Sanofi and GSK could not immediately be reached for comment.

read more

India has set aside $7 billion to vaccinate the world’s second Biggest Population

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration estimates an all-in cost of about $6-$7 per person in the nation of 1.3 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified as the details are private. The money provisioned so far is for the current financial year ending March 31 and there will be no shortage of further funds for this purpose, they added.A Finance Ministry spokesman couldn’t immediately be reached when tried on his mobile.

read more

World trade rebounding slowly, outlook uncertain: U.N. report

Global trade recovered somewhat in the third quarter, when it was estimated at about 4.5% less than in the same period a year ago, the agency said in its latest update.

“Trade in home office equipment and medical supplies has increased in Q3, while it further weakened in the automotive and energy sectors,” UNCTAD said. Growth in the textiles sector was also strong.

read more