EYEWITNESS NEWS (30.03.2020) Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance K Peter Turnquest has announced the expansion of the unemployment assistance programme for self-employed persons outside of the tourism sector.

sciencedirect.com (05.05.2020) One of the most effective ways that the Korean government rapidly dispersed these daily updates is emergency SMS messages. All citizens receive daily alert messages through their mobile phones from their local authorities. The alert message arrives with a 40–60 db alarm sound, and contains information from KCDC about newly confirmed patients and their recent trajectories if available.

oecd.org (16.04.2020) Provision of a subsidy to individuals who need to be isolated (both self-isolation and hospitalisation) to support their living costs and penalises those who are suspected to be infected if they refuse to receive diagnostic test or subsequent treatment or go through self-isolation.

oecd.org and mhis.or.kr (02.02.2020) Korea provides tests and subsequent treatment free of charge to patients and the cost is covered by central and local governments and the health insurance public corporation (the National Health Insurance covers 80% and the central government the remaining 20%).

pension.gov.sa (03.09.2020) The Public Pension Agency has implemented training programs for its employees during remote working so as to better cater their customers during the confinement period.

pension.gov.sa (03.09.2020) Entension of entitlements period of 3 months for beneficiaries who were to suspend their entitlements.

Public Pension Agency (28.04.2020) The call center is fully prepared and staffed (remotely) throughout the month of Ramadan to receive all incoming calls, and to deal with them as determined by the nature of the required service throughout the week from Sunday to Thursday from ten in the morning until four in the evening, and from nine in the evening until one in the morning, and on Friday from one in the evening until five in the evening and from nine in the evening until one in the morning. They also implemented providing customer care service via (Twitter) and increasing customer care team working hours to ensure the service is provided to customers seamlessly, including the activation of the "Mutwajed" service through the employee mobiel phone to facilitate communication between employees and clients.

Help Age Asia (2020) As part of an Asia-Pacific regional initiative, HelpAge International and partner organisations are producing bimonthly briefs to summarise trends in the situation of older people and responses to their situation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Luego que esta tarde la Cámara de Diputadas y Diputados aprobara el proyecto de reforma constitucional que permite retirar el 10% de los fondos de pensiones de las cuentas de capitalización individual obligatoria, la Superintendencia de Pensiones (SP) emitió dos oficios con instrucciones con el procedimiento, los plazos y los resguardos que las administradoras de fondos de pensiones (AFP) deberán adoptar para garantizar la correcta aplicación de la nueva ley. Los regulados tienen hasta el próximo martes 28 de julio para entregar sus comentarios. La SP determinó que la entrega de los recursos se deberá efectuar en los siguientes plazos: el 50% en un máximo de 10 días hábiles desde la fecha de la presentación de la solicitud y el 50% restante en un máximo de 30 días hábiles desde la fecha de pago del primer retiro. Cada pago tendrá un límite de 75 UF.

Reuters (14.09.2020) A collective failure by political leaders to heed warnings and prepare for an infectious disease pandemic has transformed “a world at risk” to a “world in disorder”, according to a report on international epidemic preparedness.

The government website (04.07.2020) The cabinet and social partners have reached final agreement on the details of the pension agreement. The new system will be more transparent. Workers and retirees gain a clearer insight into the accumulated assets. It also provides a realistic expectation and offers more prospects for a high-purchasing pension. The pension entitlements from the current system will be abandoned, thus eliminating the need for the use of actuarial interest and funding ratios. As a result, pensions and benefits can move faster with the state of the economy than is currently the case. Not everything will change, however. Many good things from the old system will be retained, such as solidarity, collective investment and the current mandatory participation. The new rules will apply to all pensions. Pension funds must transfer to the new system by 1 January 2026 at the latest.

IPE (15.07.2020) Despite heavy opposition resistance against “breaking down the world’s best pensions system”, the Dutch parliament agreed yesterday to the switch to a new defined contribution (DC) contract which includes a lifecycle system and personal pension pots. However, many questions on implementation remain.