Corona Kavach health insurance policy evokes good response: Insurers

Corona Kavach, which was launched on July 10 and is being offered by both general and health insurers, is a standard health insurance policy created to meet the treatment requirements for coronavirus.

Amid spurt in Covid-19 cases in the country, Corona Kavach health insurance policy has evoked good response within days of its launch by almost all insurers.
Corona Kavach, which was launched on July 10 and is being offered by both general and health insurers, is a standard health insurance policy created to meet the treatment requirements for coronavirus.

The term of the policy ranges from three-and-a-half months to nine-and-a-half months, with maximum insured amount at Rs 5 lakh.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has given a green signal to all general and health insurers to launch Corona Kavach policy to cover medical expenses of the Covid-19 positive patients.

"The response has been tremendous as people are quite eager to buy these plans. Since these plans have gone live on the PolicyBazaar's website, the company has been selling 300-500 policies per day," said Amut Chhabra, Head-Health Insurance, Policybazaar.com.

Most customers buying these plans are young individuals, he said, adding that "the policies are very much affordable like Rs 208 monthly, which is a fairly cheap amount." Observing that the response to the Corona Kavach is from across the country, he said, the policy is "following the same trend as the corona situation right now in the country with people from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi NCR showing massive interest in the newly launched plans".

Subramanyam Brahmajosyula, Head, Underwriting and Reinsurance, SBI General Insurance Company, said the provision to cover other members of the immediate family under the family floater option and home care treatment expenses are some of the features which are generating considerable interest.

Infectious disease expert Fauci urges Americans to trust medical experts

Anthony Fauci said that those who have a track record of giving recommendations based on scientific evidence and good data are society's best bet.

America's top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci urged Americans to put their faith in "respected medical authorities" to navigate the pandemic, saying that those who have a track record of giving recommendations based on scientific evidence and good data are society's "best bet".

"So, if I were to give advice to you and your family, I would say that's the safest bet to do. I believe, for the most part, you can trust respected medical authorities. I believe I'm one of them, so I think you can trust me," Fauci said Tuesday afternoon.

Fauci's comments came on a day that marked a major milestone in the search for a COVID-19 vaccine. An experimental vaccine, developed by Fauci's colleagues at the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., has shown that it activates people's immune systems exactly the way scientists hoped. This vaccine candidate will start on a 30,000-person study by July 27.

Fauci has consistently maintained that he remains "cautiously optimistic" for an effective and safe vaccine latest by early 2021.

Fauci was speaking at a Georgetown University webinar. His comments come amidst a White House smear campaign, spraying into public view a longlist of "mistakes" Fauci has made since the pandemic began.

Leading public health experts across the country have reacted to the politicisation of the coronavirus response, saying no other president has driven a wedge between public health officials and society like Trump has done.

The coronavirus has already killed more than 136,000 Americans and cases are surging to alarming levels across the US south and south west. The US death rate per 100,000 population has ticked up from the high 30s to 41 per 100,000.

Fauci sidelined by the White House despite coronavirus surge: Report

Despite his leading role in the US' fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, America's top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci has been sidelined by the White House

Despite his leading role in the US' fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, America's top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci has been sidelined by the White House, according to a media report.

Citing a senior White House official, The Washington Post report said on Sunday that Fauci "no longer briefs (President Donald) Trump and is never in the Oval (Office) anymore", Xinhua news agency reported.

According to The Washington Post report, Fauci has not spoken to Trump since "the first week of June".

Since the pandemic hit the US, the Trump administration and especially the President himself have had strained relations with the scientist over the country's coronavirus policy, it said.

In recent days, with coronavirus infections and death surging in most US states, Fauci, whose TV appearances were reportedly "scuttled" by the White House, has been more critical of the country's response to the pandemic.

In a live stream event on July 7, Fauci warned against a "false narrative" of a falling COVID-19-related death rate even as Trump continued to tout alleged progress the US had made in tackling the COVID-19 outbreak by citing a falling U.S. mortality rate.

In another interview with The Hill news website on July 9, Fauci said that hard-hit US states should pause moving forward with reopening their economies.

"I would think we need to get the states pausing in their opening process, looking at what did not work well and try to mitigate that," he said.

However, Fauci stopped short of calling for full lockdowns.

China has caused great damage to the US, rest of the world: Trump

Over the last few months, Trump has been holding China responsible for the spread of deadly coronavirus across the world.

China has caused great damage to the US and the rest of the world, President Donald Trump said on Monday.

Over the last few months, Trump has been holding China responsible for the spread of deadly coronavirus across the world.

The coronavirus has so far claimed the lives of 533,000 people globally with the US topping the chart with 132,000 fatalities. Over 11.4 million people globally and nearly three million in the US -- the highest in the world -- have tested positive for the viral infection so far.

"China has caused great damage to the United States and the rest of the World!," Trump tweeted.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought the economies of the countries, including that of the US, entire Europe and India, to a standstill.

Trump had questioned why China did not report about the Covid-19 outbreak in early stages and let the virus spread across the world.

In an interview to Fox News, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows hinted that the President might sign an executive order that relates to China, among other issues.

"I'll give you a couple of hints, all right. So, a sneak preview here. We're going to be looking at how we make sure that China is addressed, how we bring manufacturing back from overseas to make sure the American worker is supported, he said.

What is dexamethasone? A drug that boosts Covid-19 survival chance

Low-cost, widely-used steroid dexamethasone is first to show life-saving promise.

A cheap and widely used steroid called dexamethasone has become the first drug shown to be able to save lives among Covid-19 patients in what scientists said is a “major breakthrough” in the coronavirus pandemic.

Trial results announced on Tuesday showed dexamethasone, which is used to reduce inflammation in other diseases such as arthritis, reduced death rates by around a third among the most severely ill of Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital.

The preliminary results suggest the drug should immediately become standard care in patients with severe cases of the pandemic disease, said the researchers who led the trials. The researchers said they would work to publish the full details of the trial as soon as possible, with some scientists saying they wished to review the evidence for themselves.

Britain’s health ministry wasted no time in acting on the findings, saying the drug had been approved for use in the state-run health service, export restrictions had been introduced, and Britain had stockpiled 200,000 courses of the treatment.

“This is a (trial) result that shows that if patients who have Covid-19 and are on ventilators or on oxygen are given dexamethasone, it will save lives, and it will do so at a remarkably low cost,” said Martin Landray, an Oxford University professor co-leading the trial, known as the Recovery trial.

“It’s going to be very hard for any drug really to replace this, given that for less than 50 pounds ($63), you can treat eight patients and save a life,” he said in an online briefing.

Fake websites to emails, fraudsters see opportunities in Covid-19 crisis

Fraudsters see opportunities in these uncertain times.

Never have we been so attractive as targets for fraudsters and scammers as we are right now. That’s because the uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic has created more opportunities for robocallers, hackers and other thieves.

For one thing, millions of people are filing new claims for unemployment benefits and awaiting stimulus checks. So when a phone call or an email from someone purporting to be a bank or a government official comes in, it is tougher for us to ignore. Plus with so many people being required to work from home, our personal tech devices have become an attractive target for those looking to infiltrate businesses.

While there is little data about the extent of such shadowy activities, security experts said they had seen an increase in scams invading our inboxes, phones and websites. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission issued a warning, advising people to not respond to digital communications from those claiming to have information about checks from the government, among other schemes. “It’s a Pandora’s box of opportunities that they can leverage,” said Sam Espinosa, an executive at Next Caller, which develops technology to detect fraudulent calls. “The first time you’re dealing with unemployment may not be the time you’re thinking, ‘This is a fraudster.’”

In a survey by Next Caller last week, 37 per cent of the respondents said they believed they had been targeted by fraud and scams related to the coronavirus, up from 32 per cent last month. In addition, 44 per cent said they felt more vulnerable to fraud now that their businesses were allowing them to work from home. I talked to security experts about some of the most prominent scams and ways we can protect ourselves. Here’s a guide of what not to fall for.

India to Singapore: How airlines, passengers are responding to China virus

An explainer on the airline industry's response to the outbreak so far and its potential financial exposure compared to SARS in 2003.

Airlines and passengers are on guard against a new flu-like virus that originated in Wuhan, China.

Here's an explainer on the airline industry's response to the outbreak so far and its potential financial exposure compared to SARS in 2003, which killed nearly 800 people:

What is the expected financial impact on airlines?

The biggest concern is a sharp drop in travel demand if the virus becomes a pandemic.

During the height of the SARS outbreak in April 2003, passenger demand in Asia plunged 45%, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Cathay cut nearly 40% of its flights and reported a financial loss, as did Singapore Airlines Ltd, Japan Airlines Co Ltd and ANA Holdings Inc.

The industry is now more reliant on Chinese travellers.

For example, in Australia, Chinese travellers account for more than 15% of international arrivals, up from just 4% in 2003, according to Moody's ratings service.

Those travellers, who arrive mostly via mainland carriers, often take domestic flights once they arrive in Australia, pointing to the potential for knock on effects for the likes of local airline Qantas Airways Ltd if there is a fall in travel demand.

Since 2003, the number of annual air passengers has more than doubled, with China growing to become the world's largest outbound travel market.

In 2003, 6.8 million passengers from China travelled on international flights, and that number has grown by close to 10 times to 63.7 million in 2018, according to data from the country's aviation authority.

Global airline industry revenues more than doubled to $838 billion in 2019 from just $322 billion in 2003, according to IATA data.

"Whether only one secondary market, an entire country or the wider region is impacted is obviously unpredictable and outside of the industry's control," said Brendan Sobie, an independent aviation analyst in Singapore.

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