blogs.worldbank.org (07.07.2020) The COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the long-anticipated surge in telemedicine services worldwide. Consulting a health care provider over phone, video or text has become the new normal for many non-urgent medical needs, while the crisis has sparked renewed interest in digital tools that can test and monitor at-risk patients safely in their homes.

Al Jazeera (07.07.2020) Burundi has launched a campaign of mass testing for the coronavirus in the country's largest city, in a significant shift in policy for a nation which has largely ignored the dangers of the outbreak.

Many Bujumbura residents, including students, participated in the screening in three centres in the north, centre and south of the commercial capital on Monday.

Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit (14.05.2020) The Solidarity Coverage to Support the Health Sector consists of life insurance from insurance companies to provide financial protection to the families of public sector health personnel free of charge. The beneficiaries of this support will be the relatives of 1.6 million public sector health workers who have died from the COVID-19, when treating patients with this disease. In the event of death due to the direct cause of said disease, the insurers undertake to grant 50 thousand pesos to relatives of the aforementioned staff (

The Daily Star (30.06.2020) The government of Bangladesh has taken several positive measures to cope with the current crisis. On 7 April 2020, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced special insurance and stimulus for healthcare workers (HCWs) and other employees of the republic for their frontline roles in the fight against coronavirus. Special incentives include health insurance of Tk 5-10 lakh (according to rank), and the amount will be five times higher if anyone is at higher risk of death or dies from the virus.

Dhaka Tribune (10.05.2020) The government has decided to bear the operational costs of undersigned private hospitals treating Covid-19 patients. Medical professionals and others working at these hospitals will be paid by the government.   

However, private medical professionals will not be eligible for the same financial facilities as government employees. Government medical professionals are set to receive bonus salaries and will also get monetary aid if they contract or die from Covid-19.

This technical guidance identifies 10 policy objectives for decision-makers, policy-makers and national or regional health authorities as they strive to prevent and manage the COVID-19 pandemic in long-term care settings.

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (08.04.2020) The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has established an information and communication infrastructure centre (tentative name) in cooperation with the Cabinet Secretariat's IT Office. The system enables collecting information on hospital operation status, the situation of hospital beds and medical staff, the number of available medical equipment (ventilators, etc.) and medical materials (masks, protective clothing, etc.) from medical institutions nationwide (approximately 8,000 hospitals with 20 or more beds).