An average of around 540 000 cases was reported globally each day over the past week as compared to 490 000 cases reported daily the week before.
Of the four COVID-19 mutations that WHO has designated “variants of concern”, the UN agency said that the Alpha variant is present in 182 countries, Beta is in 131, Gamma in 81 and after reaching eight new countries in the past week, the Delta variant is now in 132 countries.
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England scraps quarantine for fully vaccinated EU, U.S. visitors
Top of the list is a reopening of the UK-U.S. travel corridor which is still affected by a ban on all non-U.S. citizens who have been in Britain. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told LBC Radio earlier on Wednesday that he wanted U.S. citizens to come to England “freely” and was discussing making changes.
Travellers also still have to take an expensive COVID-19 test before departure and shortly after arrival in England. BA Chief Executive Sean Doyle said the company’s trials had proved it could check travellers for vaccination status quickly and safely.
Centre asks states for data on Covid deaths due to oxygen shortage: Report
Munich Re to stop selling Pandemic Business Coverage after losses
“We are currently examining whether we will offer new contracts that include pandemic protection in property and casualty insurance in the future,” Torsten Jeworrek, Munich Re’s head of reinsurance, said in an interview.
“For the moment it has been suspended, for example with respect to event cancellations.” The company will continue to cover pandemics in its life and health contracts.Most of Munich Re’s Covid 19-related losses this year stemmed from the scrapping of major events and other hits to companies’ income during lockdown..
Serum Institute pauses COVID-19 vaccine trials in India
“We are reviewing the situation and pausing India trials till AstraZeneca restarts the trials,” SII said in a statement.
SC extends relief on NPAs after govt tells interest issue being looked into
The top court was hearing a batch of pleas which have raised the issue of interest being charged on instalments which were deferred during the moratorium period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
General insurers can issue e-policies till March,2021:IRDAI
Now, all motor, health insurance policies,fire insurance policies, all package insurance policies issued to individuals and all miscellaneous policies issued to individuals where the sum insured does not exceed Rs. 5 crore,can be issued through digital/electronic mode.
Battery-Powered face mask seeks to fight Covid and foggy glasses
LG Electronics’ PuriCare Wearable, which comes in one size and weighs as much as a pair of ski goggles, features two fans and high-efficiency particle air filters that clean air coming in and exhaled breath going out.
As authorities increasingly urge the public use of face masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, manufacturers have turned their attention to making such gear more comfortable without compromising safety.
Coronavirus capable of invading brain:Study
According to the paper, which was led by Yale immunologist Akiko Iwasaki, the virus is able to replicate inside the brain, and its presence starves nearby brain cells of oxygen, though the prevalence of this is not yet clear.
Young children carry higher levels of coronavirus:Study
It has also previously been shown that children with high viral loads of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are more likely to spread the disease.
“Thus, young children can potentially be important drivers of SARS-CoV-2 spread in the general population,” the authors wrote.
DCGI issues notice to Serum Institute over Oxford’s Covid trial suspension
“Whereas, Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd, Pune, till now has not informed the Central licensing authority regarding pausing the clinical trial carried out by AstraZeneca in other countries and also not submitted casualty analysis of the reported serious adverse event with the investigational vaccine for the continuation of phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the subject vaccine in the country in light of the safety concerns,” said the show-cause notice accessed by PTI.
Lloyd’s to pay up to £5bn as gross COVID-19 claims
John Neal, Lloyd’s CEO said: “The first half of 2020 has been an exceptionally challenging period for our people, our customers, and for economies around the world. The pandemic has inflicted catastrophic societal and economic damage calling for unparalleled measures to stifle the spread of the virus, and to get businesses and economies back on their feet. Our half year results demonstrate that our robust approach to performance management and remediation has begun to take effect, evidenced by a significant turnaround in the underlying performance metrics, which give the truest indication of our market’s profitability.”
COVID-19 “not a capital event”, 3% decline in global reinsurance capital in the first half of 2020: Willis Re
Total capital dedicated to the global reinsurance industry was USD 587 billion at 30 June 2020, combined ratio worsened from 94.9% in the first half of 2019 to 104.1%, due to COVID-19 losses which added 11.1 percentage points to combined ratios on average. However, on an underlying basis i.e. normalising COVID-19 and catastrophe losses and excluding prior year reserve development, the combined ratio improved from 100.5% to 98.6%.
James Kent, Global CEO, Willis Re, said: “This half-year analysis shows a reinsurance market understandably in a state of change. While reinsurers have so far resiliently shouldered the combined effects of COVID-19 losses and investment market volatility, underlying profitability remains challenging. Uncertainty therefore remains, particularly over the potential impact of COVID-19 on long-tail lines, which is driving reinsurers to deliver additional improvement in underwriting returns. We expect to see further reinsurance market discipline as well as continued differentiation between regions and clients based on past performance and underlying risk.”