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Bengaluru, Mar 11: The Insurance Regulatory Authority of India has asked insurers to settle all claims related to coronavirus expeditiously under existing health policies that provide for treatment of hospitalisation expenses.

It has also asked insurers to design products covering the cost of treatment of coronavirus that has fast spread across the world and also resulted in increasing number of infections in India. There has been over 3,000 deaths globally and 58 cases tested positive in India.

In order to provide need-based health insurance coverage, insurers are intro ducing products for various specific diseases, including vector borne diseases. "For the purpose of meeting health insurance requirements of various sections, insurers are advised to design products covering the costs of treatment for coronavirus," the IRDAI said in a circular.

The regulator said that under existing health insurance policies where hospitalisation is covered, not only the cases related to coronvirus disease (COVID-19) shall be expeditiously handled, but all the costs of admissible medic al expenses during the course of treatment, including the treatment during quarantine period, should be settled in accordance to the applicable terms and conditions of policy contract and the extant regulatory framework.

This would bring much needed relief to policy holders some of whom were facing difficulty in getting coverage for treatment takers to coronavirus. In the absence of clear information, a few hospitals were reportedly denying for forward such claims of policy holders to the insurers.

IRDAI has now said that all the claims reported under COVID-19 shall be thoro ughly reviewed by review committee before repudiating the claims. This would prevent blanket rejection of such claims.

But to get full claim for treatment of coronavirus, industry experts said, a person should be hospitalised at least for 24 hours. Most insurers do not c over outpatient treatment.

Bengaluru, Mar 5: Karnataka government on Thursday set aside Rs 400 crore to construct twin towers building with 25 floors here at Anand Rao Circle to facilitate all government departments to function at one place.

"To facilitate all the Government Departments to function in one building, a "Twin-Towers" building with 25 storeys will be constructed at Arland Rao Circle, Bengaluru, with an expenditure of Rs 400 crore," said Karnataka Chief Minister Yediyurappa while presenting the budget in the state Assembly.

He further said that the road cross-over facility for pedestrians other than metro commuters will be provided through 24 metro stations.

"The construction of 56 km long Outer Ring Road - Airport Metro from Central Silk Board junction to Bengaluru International Airport via K R Puram and Hebbala at an estimated cost of Rs 14,500 crore will be commenced during the year 2020-21," he said.

Rs 1,000 crore budget each have been announced for the restoration of Bengaluru roads for two years, 276 Karnataka public school for their infrastructure development.

Bengaluru, Jun 12: Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar on Friday said experts have indicated a surge in coronavirus cases in the state after August 15 and the government was taking all precautionary measures in that direction. Speaking to reporters in Ballari, Sudhakar said, "About 97 percent of over 3,000 active cases in the state are asymptomatic.

Experts after studying the developments in other countries and states have said that there will be a surge in infections after August 15."

He said the government was taking all precautionary measures in that direction.

 As of June 11 evening, cumulatively 6,245 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 72 deaths and 2,976 discharges, the health department's bulletin said.

It said, out of 3,195 active cases, 3,185 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 10 are in ICU.

Meanwhile, in a tweet pointing out that nearly 60 per cent of the COVID cases in the country are from 10 cities, Sudhakar said, despite being the fourth most populous city in the country Bengaluru has been successful in containing its spread.

"Nearly 60% of total COVID-19 cases in India are found in 10 cities. Despite being 4th most populous, Bengaluru has been successful in containing spread of virus.

I urge people to keep up the fight, continue vigil & together with #CoronaWarriors we can defeat the virus," Sudhakar tweeted.

Bengaluru that does not figure in the list of 10 cities shared by the Minister has reported 581 coronavirus cases till last evening, out of which 258 are active.