Centre approves insurance scheme for health workers fighting coronavirus

NEW DELHI: The Central Government on Saturday approved the launch of insurance scheme for health workers fighting coronavirus outbreak under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package.

It is a personal accident cover of Rs 50 lakhs for 90 days to a total of around 22.12 lakh public healthcare providers including community health workers who are under the contact and care of coronavirus patients.

This comes at the backdrop Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of a 21-day lockdown in the entire country to deal with the spread of the coronavirus, saying that " social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), there are 918 confirmed cases of coronavirus cases in the country and 19 fatalities have been reported.