Immediately before the pandemic, 300 enterprise Mayo Clinic physicians and advanced practice providers had performed a minimum of one video telemedicine consult in the preceding year. By July 15, 2020, the number of Mayo Clinic providers performing video telemedicine consults had risen to >6,500, reflecting a 2,000% increase. Through this pandemic, we have witnessed unprecedented growth in telemedicine utilization. The existing telemedicine system has proven to be scalable.

dw.com (10.05.2021) Heads of the bloc's 27 member states hope to reduce social and economic inequalities that have widened during the coronavirus pandemic.

politico.eu (06.05.2021) Leaders are facing social-welfare policy questions for a changed world. Their answers could alter the EU’s relationship with member states.

institutdelors.eu (03.05.2021) Three and a half years after the Gothenburg Summit, which resulted in the proclamation of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR), heads of State and government will meet once again on 7 and 8 May 2021 for the Porto Social Summit.

Euronews (05.05.2021) What happens when job retention schemes come to an end in Europe? Job retention schemes have kept millions of people in work during the pandemic and lockdowns. As these emergency measures are gradually phased out, how does Europe ensure there are enough jobs and that people have the right skills for the jobs of the future?

oecd.org (29.04.2021) Active labour market policies (ALMPs) that connect people to jobs will help to ensure an equitable and sustained recovery from the COVID‑19 crisis. Already in 2020, many governments reacted swiftly to the crisis by increasing funding for their public employment services (PES), training programmes and measures to increase labour demand. This has allowed the PES to hire additional staff and expand remote and digital accessibility to ensure service continuity.

EURACTIV.com (12.03.2021) Spain’s government announced a deal that will recognise riders working for delivery firms such as Deliveroo and UberEats as salaried staff following complaints about their working conditions — a first in the EU. The move came six months after Spain’s leftwing government pledged to clarify the legal status of couriers working for online delivery firms, saying they should be considered employees rather than “gig” workers.

reuters.com (02.05.2021) Australia's conservative government will increase childcare subsidies, officials said on Sunday, in a pre-budget announcement that pledges A$1.7 billion ($1.31 billion) to boost female participation in the workplace. The spending targets families with more than one child in daycare, boosting subsidies for those with two or more children aged up to five years-old to a maximum 95% subsidy for their second and subsequent children.

moroccoworldnews.com (28.04.2021) On April 14, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI presided over the signing of three framework agreements to generalize obligatory health insurance for a wide range of social categories, including professionals, self-employed workers, and non-salaried individuals exercising a private activity. The historic reform will cost MAD 51 billion ($5.71 billion) annually, of which MAD 23 billion ($2.57 billion) will come from the state budget. The reform includes several objectives.

ipcig.org  (09.04.2021) The fourth and last section of the Policy in Focus1 magazine analyses the social protection responses to the COVID-19 crisis in Asian countries