Health insurers could reject supplemental insurance for Covid patients

7:01 am.: Bäumle for mass vaccinations

Zurich’s national GLP advisor Martin Bäumle criticizes Switzerland’s corona vaccination strategy. In an interview with the CH Media newspapers, for example, he complained that Bern did not order the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine until December 9, which was too late. Mistakes were also made in logistics. For Bäumle it is clear: what is needed now are “mass vaccinations of general staff”. You can read more about it here.

6 am .: No additional insurance due to corona disease?

People with Corona may have trouble purchasing additional insurance. Some Swiss health insurances make the conclusion dependent on the duration and severity of a Covid-19 illness due to the incalculable costs of long-term consequences, writes the “Tages-Anzeiger.” A survey of providers showed that several insurers “check particularly severe corona cases very carefully” before agreeing to be included in supplemental insurance, the report says. They also booked a negative. Additional medical benefits are no longer covered for the affected insured. Basic insurance is not affected. Other health insurers, on the other hand, don’t differentiate whether people are already suffering from Corona or not, he continues.

At the request of “20 Minuten”, Santésuisse confirmed that health insurers may decline additional insurance due to the long-term consequences of the coronavirus. The health insurance association is not yet aware of such a case, but it is only a matter of time before it happens, “20 minutes” quoted Comparis’ health insurance expert Felix Schneuwly.

5.24 am.: Mexico allows the Astrazeneca vaccine

Mexico also approved the coronavirus vaccine from the pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca and the University of Oxford. The state commission for protection against health risks (Cofepris) issued an emergency approval of the vaccine on Monday. The UK, which was the first country to approve the drug, began vaccinating people on Monday. In Latin America, Argentina and El Salvador had already approved the preparation before Mexico.

Mexico was the first country in Latin America to begin vaccinating its citizens against the corona virus on Christmas Eve, with the help of the German company Biontech and the US group Pfizer. Meanwhile, almost 44,000 people in the North American country have been vaccinated with it, according to government information.

The vaccine from the British-Swedish company Astrazeneca and the University of Oxford showed less effectiveness than the Biontech preparation in studies, but it can be stored with less effort and is significantly cheaper. It is currently being tested by the European approval authorities. In August, the governments of Argentina and Mexico agreed with Astrazeneca that if approved in the two countries, the vaccine would be manufactured for all of Latin America except Brazil.

3.36 am.: New virus variant also detected in Brazil

In Brazil, according to official information, the first two cases of the particularly contagious variant of the coronavirus discovered in Great Britain occurred in the country. This was announced by the São Paulo state health secretary in a statement on Monday. Consequently, the “Instituto Adolfo Lutz” of São Paulo, the national reference laboratory, had confirmed the cases. One of the confirmed cases, according to the statement, is a 25-year-old woman who lives in São Paulo and has had contact with travelers who have been to Europe. The other person in question is a 34-year-old whose background and place of residence are still being controlled by the authorities. Two other suspected cases were not confirmed, as reported by the “G1” news portal, citing the São Paulo state health secretary.

Brazil is one of the hot spots of the pandemic. More than 7.75 million people have been infected with the virus and more than 196,500 patients have died in relation to Covid-19. With more than 40 million inhabitants, São Paulo is the most populated and with more than 1.47 million infected and 46,800 deaths, one of the most affected states in the country. There, the occupancy rate for intensive care beds for Covid 19 patients is higher than since August.

2.51 am: Stable mortgage interest rates despite the second wave

Mortgage rates in Switzerland were stable in the fourth quarter of 2020. According to the comparison service Comparis, there should be more dynamism in the mortgage market in the coming months, to the benefit of buyers and property owners. By far the most popular mortgage is still the one with a ten-year term. Its interest rate fluctuated in the last three months between 1.04 and 1.07 percent, and therefore was just above the 1 percent mark, as announced by Comparis on Tuesday morning. Fixed-rate mortgages were stable with terms of five and two years. They remained between 0.90 and 0.86 percent in the fourth quarter. “Corona’s second wave has left the mortgage market cold so far,” said Comparis expert Frédéric Papp.

1 am: Germany advises to extend the blockade

In her first videoconference of the new year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the heads of government of the federal states are discussing an extension of the closure to contain the pandemic today (1:00 p.m.). In recent days it has become clear that public life will not start again until the end of January due to the high number of infections. The round should also clarify whether some federal states will be able to reopen their elementary schools next week. Merkel and the prime ministers also want to discuss the vaccination campaign. More recently, after a resinous start, there was criticism.

0.41 am: Growth forecast for 2021 significantly down

The German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) has significantly lowered its forecast for the growth of the German economy this year due to the pandemic. The institute now only assumes an increase in gross domestic product (GDP) of 3.5 percent, as its president Marcel Fratzscher told the German business newspaper “Handelsblatt” in an interview published Monday night. DIW had previously expected 5.2 percent growth. The German economy is already in another recession, Fratzscher said. After a contraction in the fourth quarter of 2020, his institute expects an economic decline of more than two percent in the first quarter of 2021.

Hope for an economic restart is in the second quarter. But this will only be successful if the wave of infections subsides in February and restrictions can be largely lifted. “If this is not successful, the economy in Germany could suffer even more and the risk of business insolvency and unemployment will increase significantly,” the DIW president warned. However, DIW’s forecast, which has since been revised, was much more optimistic than that of the Advisory Council on the assessment of the overall economic situation. In November, before the current hard lockdown, the panel had forecast a growth of 3.7 percent in 2021. The chairman of the Council of Experts, Lars Feld, said on Sunday in the Internet program of the newspaper “Bild” that the forecast 3.7 percent was no longer sustainable.

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