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Pandemic

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1,016 claims settled till Aug 5 under PMGKP scheme for health workers fighting Covid: Govt

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP): Insurance Scheme for Health Care Workers Fighting COVID-19 was launched on March 30, 2020 to provide comprehensive personal accident cover of Rs 50 lakh to 22.12 lakh health care providers including community health workers and private health workers who may have been in direct contact and care of Covid patients and may be at risk of being impacted by this.
The scheme is being implemented through an insurance policy from New India Assurance Company Limited, a public sector insurance company under Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance. Initially, the insurance policy had validity of 90 days which was extended twice and it finally ended on March 24, 2021 on the expiry of its validity.

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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.

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India to Indonesia: Asian economies challenged by Delta Covid variant

Supply chains from Vietnam to Thailand, where outbreaks are surging, have also been interrupted, with factories that make goods for Nike Inc. and Adidas AG shutting down over virus restrictions, potentially missing out on the crucial holiday shopping season. That raises the prospect of Asia’s delta hit reverberating worldwide, if exports are delayed longer term.

“The current delta wave in Asia may snarl production networks further,” said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economic research at HSBC Holdings Plc in Hong Kong. “The risk is that growth scars linger for longer.”

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UK eases travel restrictions for Indians, compulsory institutional quarantine rule removed

According to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) all arrivals from India who have been vaccinated with both the doses can choose to isolate at home. The individuals no longer need to shell out 1, 750 pounds per head for 10 day quarantine at a government-approved facility. Moreover, people vaccinated in UK or Europe are exempted from home quarantine requirements as well. Moreover, work is ongoing to determine which non-UK vaccines and certification solutions will be recognised. This comes as the UK reviews its three-tier international travel restrictions with a color-coded list of countries (red, amber & green).

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ICMR study finds mix of Covishield, Covaxin yields better results

These findings have an important implication for the COVID-19 vaccination program wherein heterologous immunisation will pave the way for induction of improved and better protection against the variant strains of SARS-CoV-2.

Such mixed regimens will also help to overcome the challenges of shortfall of particular vaccines and remove hesitancy around vaccines in people’s mind that could have genesis in programmatic ‘errors’ especially in settings where multiple COVID-19 vaccines are being used, the study highlighted.

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