Govt offers Rs 50 lakh insurance cover for healthcare workers

Scheme to cover public and private sector healthcare providers

coronavirus-healthcare-worker-spraying-srinagar-PTI Special team of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) sanitize an area outside a hospital, where a 65-year-old man died due to coronavirus pandemic, in Srinagar, Thursday, March 26, 2020 | PTI

The Centre is working out the details of Rs 50 lakh insurance cover for healthcare providers who are working on COVID-19, joint secretary Lav Agarwal said today.

The scheme would cover all public and private healthcare providers, Agarwal said, adding that the broader contours of the scheme were still being worked out by the New India Assurance Company.

According to the health ministry, as per the announcement made under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package, the launch of ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package: Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19’ has been approved with a few conditions.

"It will provide an insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh for 90 days to a total of around 22.12 lakh public healthcare providers, including community health workers, who may have to be in direct contact and care of COVID-19 patients and who may be at risk of being impacted by this," the ministry said in a statement.

"It will also include accidental loss of life on account of contracting COVID-19. On account of the unprecedented situation, private hospital staff/ retired/volunteer/ local urban bodies/contract/daily wage/ ad-hoc/outsourced staff requisitioned by states/central hospitals/autonomous hospitals of central/states/UTs, AIIMS & INIs (institutes of national importance)/ hospitals of central Ministries can also be drafted for COVID-19 related responsibilities. These cases will also be covered subject to numbers indicated by Ministry of Health & FamilyWelfare,"health ministry officials said.

The insurance provided under this scheme would be over and above any other insurance cover being availed by the beneficiary.

The Centre is ramping up its efforts to procure PPE, Agarwal told reporters at the presser on COVID-19. The health ministry was checking with all manufacturers in the country for supply of masks and other PPE requirements, and also working with the ministry of external affairs to procure PPEs from other countries.

On Saturday, THE WEEK had reported that the government was reaching out to other countries through the MEA for additional PPE requirement.

PM asks Ayush ministry for evidence-based research on potential cures

Agarwal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held a video conference with AYUSH practitioners, and instructed the AYUSH ministry to provide "evidence-based" information for possible treatment and cures for COVID-19. The government had also created ten empowered groups with top officials from several ministries to work on medical management and other aspects of pandemic preparedness in the country.

India had reported 987 confirmed cases and 25 deaths. In the last 24 hours, 106 new cases and 6 deaths have been reported. India had conducted around 35,000 tests, and 113 government laboratories and 47 private labs were now equipped to handle the tests for COVID-19, said Dr Raman R. Gangakhedkar, head, epidemiology and communicable diseases, ICMR.

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