Health
APRIL International Care opens up TeleHEALTH service to address Coronavirus worries
The TeleHEALTH service means policyholders do not have to leave their home or workplace to “see” a doctor, with a consultation happening directly over the phone
Hong Kong February 10, 2020 – APRIL International Care has opened up its TeleHEALTH service to all individual and group clients across its Asian region to provide support for clients during the current Coronavirus outbreak.
TeleHEALTH is a free medical consultation system for policyholders, offering unlimited consultations 24/7 in English and 11 other languages.
TeleHEALTH operates through a partnership with Teladoc Health, allowing policyholders to access a phone consultation with a qualified medical practitioner via the APRIL Easy Claim app.
Medical experts available over the phone
The TeleHEALTH service means policyholders do not have to leave their home or workplace to “see” a doctor, with a consultation happening directly over the phone. Medical experts can evaluate your condition and then offer appropriate guidance and support.
Regional CEO of APRIL International Care Asia, Romain Di Meglio observes, “The new Coronavirus outbreak has worried large numbers of people across Asia. Beyond the substantial resources being deployed to contain and control it, we believe it is our responsibility to contribute to the situation to the best of our capacities.
Awareness, avoidance of panic effect and basic protective measures are key to resolving the situation. For any of our clients who have concerns, we have opened up our TeleHEALTH facility to offer a qualified medical opinion, which is just a call away.
Whilst most will recover from flu like illnesses, we should always be especially vigilant when it comes to the elderly, people suffering from chronic conditions, newborns or pregnant women and this is where our TeleHEALTH facility might be particularly useful.”
Total confirmed cases of this new strain of the Coronavirus stood at just over 40,500 globally at the start of February 2020, with nearly 40,200 of those being in mainland China.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as flu and pneumonia. As a viral infection, antibiotics are not effective and people with common human Coronavirus illness will recover on their own.
Di Meglio continues
“Whilst the risk of infection for most is very low, just as with any influenza related illness, there is a lot we can all do to protect ourselves and slow the spread of any disease. Wash your hands often with soap and water, avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands and try to avoid close contact with people who are sick.
If you do fall ill, protect others from getting sick. Sensible precautions would include staying at home, covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, then throwing the tissue away and washing your hands. If you have a fever, a cough and difficulty with your breathing, seek medical care early and inform the care provider of your travel history.”
APRIL International Care are specialists in designing and delivering flexible international private health insurance solutions for individuals, families and companies. For more information on TeleHEALTH, contact APRIL International Care in Hong Kong, or visit www.april-international.com.
About APRIL International
APRIL International is the brand which carries the APRIL group’s mobility offerings (international health insurance and travel insurance). APRIL International Care France, an insurance intermediary registered with ORIAS under number 07 008 000, designs, distributes and manages insurance solutions and assistance services for individuals, travellers, expatriates and businesses.
Thanks to our strong partnerships with distributors and medical providers, our teams are able to provide services anywhere in the world. By combining proximity and expertise, the group aims, through its APRIL International brand, to make life easier for their internationally-mobile customers by insuring their health and travel wherever they are in the world and whatever the nature and duration of their trip.
About the APRIL Group
Founded in 1988, APRIL is an international insurance services group operating in 28 countries, whose primary goal is to offer its clients a simpler and more accessible insurance experience. Its 3,900 staff members design, distribute and manage specialised insurance solutions (Health & Personal Protection, Property & Casualty, Mobility and Legal Protection) and assistance services for its partners and customers, including private individuals, professionals and businesses. Listed on Euronext Paris (Compartment B), the group posted sales of €997.2m in 2018.
Health
APRIL International Care revamps MyHEALTH Hong Kong
APRIL International Care is unique in offering choice in how care is delivered, thus empowering clients to contain costs and ultimately keep premiums down.
Hong Kong, 17 February 2020 – APRIL International Care has announced significant improvements to its onshore MyHEALTH Hong Kong private international health insurance policy range. The changes will apply to all the policies APRIL International Care offers, including individual, family and small to medium enterprise cover, with enhancements having taken effect immediately.
(more…)Business
Coronavirus Outbreak in China Forces White Collar Class to Work From Home
SHANGHAI—In a nation unaccustomed to widespread working from home, China’s coronavirus outbreak is forcing millions of white-collar workers to get used to business outside the office.
With millions of companies keeping staff away to curb contagion, demand is surging for chat apps that employees are adjusting to use from living rooms, kitchens and home offices.
“When we did our first video call on Monday, some people looked like they just got out of bed,” said Jingshu Chen, who runs virtual reality startup VeeR, which asked its staff to stay away from their Beijing office for the week.
“Then, when we did a video call on the second day, everyone looked ready to work.”
Provinces across China have ordered companies to shut or make staff work from home for at least another week after the Lunar New Year holiday. Many firms may extend that further.
The work-from-home policies have led to a surge in downloads for WeChat Enterprise, DingTalk, and Lark—three workplace chat apps operated by Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance respectively.
According to data from research firm App Annie, both DingTalk and Lark saw downloads across China’s app stores surge over 350 percent during Chinese New Year week compared to one week prior.
Downloads for WeChat Work surged by almost 70 percent in the same time.
Both DingTalk and WeChat Work suffered connectivity issues due to heavy usages, the companies confirmed in public statements addressing user complaints.
Couriers and Round-the-Clock
Companies are also relying more on China’s army of couriers, who are keeping many self-quarantined residents fed and supplied. VeeR’s Chen said large video files that her team once accessed on an office network are now delivered to employees’ homes via hard drives with couriers.
Some fear financial disruptions.
John Rood, who runs a digital marketing agency in Shenzhen, said the nationwide work-from-home experiment could cause late payments from clients due to banking system quirks.
“A lot of Chinese banks require you to use a USB drive to log into your account, for security measures,” he said.
“But…
Business
‘Frost on Top of Snowfall’: Virus Piles Pressure on China’s Industrial Machine
SHANGHAI/BEIJING—The coronavirus is threatening to disrupt large parts of China’s manufacturing machine and its global supply chains as the spread of infection and strict public health measures force companies and workers to remain idle.
China’s most important holiday was due to end on Jan. 31, when many companies planned to get back to work after a week-long vacation, but authorities have ordered businesses in many areas to stay shut longer in a bid to contain the disease.
Widespread travel restrictions, meanwhile, mean millions of migrant workers may be unable to return to what has often been called the world’s factory floor.
The World Health Organization on Thursday declared the outbreak a global health emergency.
Brian Miller, 32, owner of Easy China Warehouse and a bluetooth speaker company in the southern city of Shenzhen, said labor and production disruptions could ripple through supply chains, from raw materials to final assembly.
“If we can’t get back to production quick enough, I’ll run out of inventory, and I’ll have a few months where we won’t be able to sell anything. And that’s the catastrophe that we all don’t want,” Miller told Reuters.
In Eastern China’s Suzhou, one of the country’s largest manufacturing hubs, companies have been told to stay shut until at least Feb. 8 and in Shanghai until Feb. 9. Factories in the southern manufacturing hub of Dongguan in export-oriented Guangdong Province have also been told not to open before Feb. 10.
The threat of significant disruptions comes as China was already undergoing the biggest supply chain shift in a generation as companies grappled with the impact of the Sino-U.S. trade war and an economic slowdown.
A woman surnamed Chen, who co-owns a garment factory in Huizhou in Guangdong Province, described the virus and shutdowns as being like “frost on top of snowfall.”
Her domestic focused factory already had to lay off almost half its workers from over 70 to around 40 due to the slowing economy, and she fears more jobs may be lost in coming months.
“The outbreak is definitely causing great damage to our…
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