Coronavirus May Change Insurance Industry Forever

Insurance companies are creating products for a world where health emergencies could become the new normal after many businesses struggled during the COVID-19 crisis.

New insurance policies designed to guard against events like the coronavirus health crisis might cost a lot. But they offer businesses -- from restaurants to film production companies -- ways of protecting against work stoppages and losses if another virus strikes.

The providers include big insurance companies and individual brokers adding new products to existing coverage. There also are niche players -- businesses that see a chance to fill the space left by major insurers that liken pandemics to wars or nuclear explosions.

For example, a Massachusetts-based company called Machine Cover aims to offer policies next year that would give help during lockdowns. Using computer software and other data sources, the company measures traffic levels around businesses such as restaurants, stores and car dealers.

If traffic drops below a set level, Machine Cover provides the businesses it insures with financial support, whatever the reason. That way the effect of a decrease in business activity is reduced.

The Reuters news agency spoke with Inder-Jeet Gujral, the company’s creator. “This is the type of coverage which...businesses thought they had paid for when they bought their current business interruption policies before the coronavirus,” he said.

Machine Cover receives support from insurance provider Hiscox and individual investors, mostly from the insurance and private investment world.

This month, the mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Carlos Gimenez, ordered local restaurants to close a short time after they had reopened. As a result, the restaurants are now struggling, notes Andrew Giambarba of the Insurance Office of America in Doral, Florida. He wrote insurance policies for restaurants that did not get federal aid when the coronavirus forced their businesses to close.

“Every niche that is dealing with insurance that is affected by business interruption needs every new product they can have,” he noted.

Pandemic exemptions have helped some insurers remain financially secure, while the insurance industry has largely resisted pressure to provide more coverage for virus-related losses. In fact, some insurers that paid out for event cancellations and other losses have removed pandemics from their coverage.

Last week, British risk management group Airmic said that the pandemic was partly responsible for a lack of basic insurance at a reasonable cost. Airmic added that most of its members were looking at other ways to reduce risk.

Recently, Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley PLC started selling a policy to insure organizers of online music, cultural and business events against technical problems.

These events depend completely on the technology working and a failure can be “financially crippling,” said Mark Symons, who works for Beazley.

Since businesses are only now learning how disease outbreaks can affect them, some new insurance products are specially made.

Elite Risk Insurance in California has been offering “COVID outbreak relapse coverage” since May. The policies are meant for businesses forced to close a second time, said Jeff Kleid, Elite Risk’s creator. The policies are designed around individual businesses and only pay out when one or more conditions are met.

For film and television production companies that could be when an actor gets the virus, forcing them to stop filming. Such policies are costly: a $1 million policy could cost between about $80,000 to $100,000, depending on the terms.

“The insurance ... is costly because it covers a risk that does not have a historical basis for calculating the price,” Kleid says.

Some insurers are also working on changes to employee pay and health insurance plans. With millions of workers not expected to return to offices anytime soon, some companies in Asia are preparing insurance policies to protect them from hardship.

I’m Pete Musto.

Noor Zainab Hussain reported on this story for Reuters. Pete Musto adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

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Words in This Story

insurance – n. an agreement in which a person makes regular payments to a company and the company promises to pay money if the person is injured or dies, or to pay money equal to the value of something (such as a house or car) if it is damaged, lost, or stolen

broker(s) – n. a person who helps other people to reach agreements, to make deals, or to buy and sell property, such as stocks or houses

niche – n. the situation in which a business's products or services can succeed by being sold to a particular kind or group of people — usually singular

pandemic(s) – n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world

lockdown(s) – n. a state of isolation or restricted movement established as a security measure

source(s) – n. someone or something that provides what is wanted or needed

interruption – n. the act of causing something to stop happening for a time

exemption(s) – n. the process of freeing or state of being free from a requirement or liability forced on others

management – n. the act or skill of controlling and making decisions about a business, department or sports team

calculating – v. getting a general idea about the value, size, or cost of something

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How Sleep Can Help You Lose More Side Fat

Today we are going to talk about how sleep can help to lose more side fat.

So when it comes to how to lose side fat there is really three things you have to do, workout, eat right and recovery.

The majority of your recovery is really sleep so if you don't get enough sleep you're literally not doing one out of the three that's almost like saying you wanna have sexy obliques, but you don't workout but I eat well and I sleep, that's not going to work you got to have all three.

A lot of people think that working out and eating is important which it is but sleeping is nothing.

What you need to understand is when it comes to making sure that you burn your side fat that your body rest properly so you can function next day.

sleeping is just as important as workout and eating but if you don't sleep enough you are going to find yourself tired.

before we talk about how sleeping can burn your love handles we will talk about how sleeping less can make you gain more fat.

the effects of lack sleeping

1-When you sleep your body produces hormones it releases actually growth hormones along with a whole bunch of other hormones that will help your body and your brain to recover and at the same time burning fat so if you don't sleep well your body won't produce enough hormones.

2- If you don't get enough sleep your appetite is going to increase that night because you supposed to be sleeping and relaxing but yet you're running around doing something or maybe just online whatever it is your body is still up and at that point you're gonna be hungry but over to the study that  have shown that people tend to eat bad late that night, junk food and stuff like that, they will power is all exhausted so they are not eating healthy food and that equals more fat.

3-Another reason why sleeping less can make you fat is  that the people that sleep less also tend to workout less because the don't have the energy and even if you are a committed man and you can make to the gym you won't push yourself to the point where he will burn fat.

Those are reasons why sleeping is related directly to losing side fat, everything has to fit.

                                                                    How to sleep better 

You need to get 7 to about 9 hours of sleep make sure that you don't get too much sleep, if you over do it your body will starve and will start breaking on your muscle, it's the same thing for people who go to work or to school without having their breakfast and as we said before the more muscle you have the more body fat you will burn.

So here are some tips that will help you to sleep better.

1-Stretch before going to sleep, so I actually recommend doing yoga because unlike a lot of other activities yoga is really calm and helps you relax it also helps your muscles to relax, last thing you want to do is any exercise before going to bed like push-ups or sit-ups.

2-The right environment, so you don't want to have bright lights because the bright lights to your brain signal it's waking up right because we live under the sun, over the years we developed that habit so if you enter to your bedroom and it's bright your brain will think that it's the daytime this is just how our brain function.

3-Make sure that your bedroom is used only for two things which are sleep and sex that's it nothing else, what happens is people will use their bedrooms for everything other then what is supposed to do, your supposed to use your bedroom for sleeping, what you don't want to do is things like work, watch tv and working out because you don't want to relate your bedroom with all these other activities, certain areas in your house have a certain designated thing and also don't leave any type of electronics in your room.

4- Make your bedroom colder, so a lot of people don't realize but your body need to be at a certain temperature in order for you to fall in sleep, if your body is too hot you're not going to be able to get a deep sleep so just turn the AC down, another thing  don't do anything before your bed that heat's up your body and that's why you don't want to workout because working out increases your body temperature.

5- The last tip for today is to not sleep on a full stomach, most people think because they want to burn fat and they're thinking if I sleep on a full stomach it's not going to burn it's just gone sit there next day I wake up and the food will barely be gone and even though a part of that is true but another reason why is because when you eat and then you go right to bed, your body is trying to digest the food but when you lay down and go to sleep the food instead of going downwards it starts to go upwards with all the acid and why you feel your chest burning.

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Diverticulitis: Diet, Symptoms, Treatment, Foods to Avoid

Diverticulosis is a condition in which the inner lining layer of the large intestine or colon bulges out (herniates) through the outer, muscular layer. These ‘outpouchings’ are called diverticula.

Diverticulitis is the term for inflammation and infection in one or morediverticula.

A person having diverticulosis (the condition), and perhaps diverticulitis (the inflammation) as well, is said to have diverticular disease.

Diverticulosis Symptoms, Causes, & Treatment

Diverticula occur in a colon weakened by age when increased pressure inside the colon (usually due to constipation) causes little pea-shaped pouches of weakness in the intestine wall.

The chance of developing diverticula increases with age, so that by age 50 between 20 and 50 percent of all people will have some diverticula, and by age 90 virtually everyone will.

Symptoms

Diverticulosis is usually symptom-free so most people do not realize they have it. However, a few people will experience cramps, spasms, constipation, and pain.

Treatment

Relieving constipation, primarily by increasing fiber in the diet, can reduce the problems associated with diverticulosis. If cramps, bloating, and constipation are a problem, a doctor may prescribe a short course of pain medication. However, many medications cause the colon to empty, an undesirable side effect for people with diverticulosis.

Diverticulitis Symptoms, Causes, & Treatment

A person with diverticulosis may get diverticulitis when waste matter and bacteria are trapped in a pouch (diverticula).

This blockage interferes with the blood supply to the area, and infection sets in.

The tissue then becomes inflamed or infected, and in severe cases may even rupture. An attack of diverticulitis can result in fever, pain, and tenderness around the left side of the lower abdomen.

Symptoms

The infection and irritation of nearby tissues within the abdomen may cause the abdominal muscles to spasm. About 25 percent of all patients with diverticulitis will have some rectal bleeding although this rarely becomes severe. Diverticulitis is three times more likely to occur in the left side of the large intestine, and men are three times as likely as women to suffer from diverticulitis.

Treatment

Treatment for diverticulitis focuses 3 areas.

• Clearing up the infection and inflammation with antibiotics.
• Resting the colon with a liquid diet plus a pain reliever or a drug such as propantheline (Pro-Banthine) to control muscle spasms.
• Preventing or minimizing complications with the proper diet.

Acute or repeated attacks with severe pain or severe infection may be serious enough to require a hospital stay and possibly surgery.

High Fiber Diet Recommendations

High Fiber Diet for Diverticular Disease

This diverticulitis diet is a high fiber diet for managing diverticulosis, and for reducing effects of diverticulitis. The increased fiber (the American Dietetic Association recommends 20 to 35 grams daily, including 6-8 grams of soluble fiber) in this diverticulitis diet plan produces more bulk in the stool, reducing pressure in the colon and assisting the more regular and complete elimination of waste, thereby preventing the formation of further diverticula.

Build up consumption of fiber in your diet gradually – rapid fiber increase may result in gas, cramping, bloating, or diarrhea.

There are benefits of having different kinds of fiber in a balanced diverticulitis diet:

• It helps to protect against cancer of the colon and rectum.
• It assists in preventing heart disease and a number of other health problems.
• Foods containing fiber also tend to comprise nutrients like vitamins A, C, and E as well as selenium which is useful in fighting cancer.

Increase Fluid and Fiber

Anyone with diverticulitis who increases their fiber intake under this diverticulitis diet plan, should drink at least 1.5 liters (3 pints) daily. Insoluble fiber needs fluid to form stools that are easily passed.

Medical advice may be to take a fiber supplement such as Metamucil daily (for soluble fiber from psyllium), and to use a cholesterol-lowering spread or margarine containing plant sterols. Fiber supplements provide about 2 to 3.5 grams of fiber per tablespoon, which is mixed with a quarter liter (8 ounces) of water before consuming.

Should Seeds Be Eaten?

Until recently, many doctors suggested avoiding foods with small seeds because it was believed that particles could lodge in the diverticula and cause inflammation. However, this is now a controversial point and no evidence supports this recommendation.

The seeds in tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, strawberries and raspberries, as well as poppy seeds, which are part of your diverticulitis diet, are generally considered harmless.

Diverticulitis Diet Guidelines

Foods to Eat

Grains	Breads and grains (6-11 servings daily) Bread, pasta, pizzas, pancakes, muffins, bagels, pita bread (use whole-grain, whole-wheat flours, and add 2-3 tsp of unprocessed wheat bran, or substitute oat bran for one-third of all-purpose flour in homemade bread, muffins and other baked goods) Whole-wheat, whole-grain and bran cereal products Buckwheat and stone-ground cornmeal Rye bread Whole wheat crackers or crisp breads Oatmeal, oat bran, or grits Barley, dry Wheat germ Whole wheat pasta Brown rice
Vegetables	All vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, greens (such as beet greens, kale, collards, Swiss chard and turnip greens), green beans, green pepper, onions, peas, potatoes with skin, Romaine, snow peas, green snap beans, pole beans, broad beans, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, turnips. Eat raw or dried fruits and raw vegetables if possible – chopping, peeling, cooking, pureeing, juicing, and processing fruit and vegetables may reduce fiber content.
Fruit	All fruits such as apple, apricot, banana, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, dates, fig, grapefruit, nectarine, orange, peach, pear, pineapple, prune.
Milk/Dairy	Increase fiber in yogurt or cottage cheese by adding fresh fruit, whole grain or bran cereals.
Meat/Meat Substitutes	All beans and peas such as aduki, baked beans, black beans, fava, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, lentils, lima beans, pinto beans and split peas. Smooth peanut butter and other smooth nut butters. All meat (increase fiber in meat dishes like meatloaf, casseroles, by adding 2-3 tsp of unprocessed wheat bran or pinto beans, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, or oatmeal), poultry, fish, and eggs
Fats and Snacks	Whole-wheat pretzels, baked tortilla corn chips or trail mix made with dried fruits. Cakes, breads, and cookies made with oatmeal or fruit. Bean dip

Foods to Avoid

Any hard or difficult-to-digest foods such as;

• nuts
• corn
• popcorn hulls
• sunflower seeds
• pumpkin seeds
• caraway seeds
• sesame seeds

Questionable foods

• stringy fiber foods like sweet potato
• strawberries
• kiwi fruit
• raspberries
• blackberries

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diet based on 1200 calories

A diet based on 1200 calories daily is the recommended minimum for safe and healthy weight loss.

This is because 1200 calories will generally provide an adequate nutritional intake for most individuals, yet still allows the reduction of calories to the level that most dieters require in order to lose weight.

Many diet plans for weight loss that are developed by nutritionists and health professionals are based on 1200 calories daily.

1200 Calorie Diet Basics

This diet plan is centered around the concept of calorie control. If dieters are consuming fewer calories than they are expending then this will result in weight loss.

Dieters are to consume 1200 calories daily. This will involve the need to consult with either books or online resources that list the calorie content of each food.

Recommended Foods

There are no specific foods recommended on this plan however dieters are likely to experience a greater degree of success when the diet is based on fresh and unprocessed foods including fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and lean proteins.
§

Sample 1 Day 1200 Calorie Meal Plan

Breakfast 1 cup bran cereal (128) 1 cup skim milk (90) 1 small banana (89)

Lunch Tuna (2.9 ounces) sandwich on whole grain bread with 1 Tbs. low fat mayo (310) 2 cups raw vegetable crudités (carrot, red pepper, celery) (55) 1 small apple (80)

Afternoon Snack Small Nectarine (57) Sparkling water with lemon wedge (0)

Dinner 3 oz grilled chicken breast (75) 1 cup steamed green beans (44) Salad with 1 cup lettuce, ½ cup cherry tomatoes, ½ cup grated carrot (45) 2 teaspoons olive oil and balsamic vinegar (90) 1 fresh small peach (51)

Evening Snack 1 small pear (86)

Note: Calorie amounts of each food are in parenthesis and derived from amounts listed on calorieking.com.

3 more days of 1200 calorie meal plans are found for free here.

Exercise Could be Difficult

There are no specific recommendations for this diet however dieters should be aware that daily exercise is important for maintaining weight loss and for general health.

Excessive exercise may actually not be beneficial on this plan because the calories and nutritional intake is too low to sustain high levels of physical activity.

Dieters on a 1200 calorie diet plan may feel fatigued or exhausted when doing intense exercise.

Costs and Expenses

There are no expenses for this program other than perhaps a calorie counting tool such as a book or computer program however free online services are also available such as MyFitnessPal.

The Easy Way

The easiest way to follow a 1200 calorie is diet by getting the meals delivered:

• Try BistroMD's Standard Plan for women (3 meals + 2 snacks).

Upsides

• If wholesome foods are selected many dieters will not experience hunger on this diet.
• Low calorie diets are a proven effective method of weight loss.
• Dieters have freedom to choose whatever foods they like as long as the daily caloric intake is not exceeded.
• Can be adapted to suit special diets such as vegetarian, diabetic etc.
• Rapid initial weight loss may increase motivation to stick with a long term weight loss plan.

Downsides

• Necessary to count calories and measure foods.
• Diet will need to be planned carefully so as to prevent nutritional deficiencies.
• Many dieters will experience fatigue and hunger on a low calorie diet.
• Not suitable for physically active individuals.
• High risk of rebound weight gain when calorie intake is increased.

At Least Short Term Results Expected

A 1200 calorie diet is likely to produce results for most individuals, at least in the short term. However in order for weight loss to be sustained it will be necessary to incorporate healthy lifestyle changes.

Dieters will have an increased chance of success if they learn how to select nutritionally balanced meals, to manage psychological stress and to incorporate daily physical activity into their routines.

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Zika virus disease samples...don't pass urine (by)..

It is becoming anecdotal in the Tweet'verse that Zika virus (ZIKV) viraemia (virus in the blood) can only be detected for 5 days - presumably after illness onset  - I need to chase that down.

But blood is not the only sample to test. 

In fact it may even be one of the less informative samples to test if trying to detect signs of a current or very recent infection. A lot of that being done in the Americas, and as a result, in laboratories worldwide, right now.
Urine has been shown to be positive for ZIKV RNA beyond 5 days, sometimes when blood is completely negative by highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods.[1,2,3] Saliva has also been of use,[4] but urine seems to outperform it for PCR purposes.
In particular - beyond 10 days in the study by Gourinat et al.[3]

From Emerging Infectious Diseases article,Vol. 21, No. 1,
January 2015 Detection of Zika Virus in Urine.[3]

References...

1. http://jtm.oxfordjournals.org/content/jtm/23/1/tav011.full.pdf
2. http://www.eurosurveillance.org/images/dynamic/EE/V19N04/art20683.pdf
3. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/21/1/pdfs/14-0894.pdf
4. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S138665321500133X

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Sacred Heart Diet: Soup Based 7 Day Meal Plan

The Sacred Heart Diet is a fad diet that has been circulating for many years.The diet was supposedly thought to come from the cardiology department at Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital where it was used for overweight heart patients. However, like most of these diets – this is an urban myth.

The Sacred Heart Diet has been called a number of different names (such as the Spokane Heart Diet, the Cleveland Clinic Diet, Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital Diet and the Miami Heart Institute Diet).

Basically A Soup Based Diet

The Sacred Heart Diet is a soup-based diet and claims that you will lose 10-17 pounds in the first week.

This may be true, but most of the weight lost will tend to be water – and will be gained right back very soon after the diet.

This diet is very clearly an unsustainable fad diet but is not as nutritionally unsound as similar diets. Most of these diets claim some magical fat-burning science is involved, or that there is something special about the combination of foods. This is simply untrue – it is nothing more complex than a reduction in calories!

Here are the two of the most popular Sacred Heart Diet soup recipes that are the foundation of this fad diet.

The Sacred Heart Diet Soup Recipes

Most Popular Sacred Heart Soup Recipe

• 1 or 2 cans of stewed tomatoes
• 3 plus large green onions
• 1 large can of beef broth (no fat)
• 1 pkg. Lipton Soup mix (chicken noodle)
• 1 bunch of celery
• 2 cans green beans
• 2 lbs Carrots
• 2 Green Peppers

Season with salt, pepper curry, parsley, if desired, or bouillon, hot or Worcestershire sauce. Cut veggies in small to medium pieces. Cover with water. Boil fast for 10 minutes. Reduce to simmer and continue to cook until vegetables are tender.

Alternate Soup Recipe
Soup to be eaten ALL DAY as much and as often as you can.

• 2 – 11oz. cans chicken noodle soup (Campbell Healthy)
• 5 stalks of celery (diced)
• 1 lb. pack frozen string beans
• 4 carrots (diced)
• 4 potatoes (diced)
• ½ green pepper (diced)
• 2 onions (diced)

The diet also bears a striking resemblance to the cabbage soup diet.

7 Day Diet Plan

Day 1Any fruit (except bananas). Cantaloupes and watermelon are lower in calories than most other fruits. Eat only soup and fruit today.

Day 2All vegetables. Eat until you are full with fresh raw, cooked or canned veggies. Try to eat green leafy veggies and stay away from dry beans, peas or corn. Eat veggies along with the soup and a baked potato at dinner time with butter. Don’t eat any fruits through today.

Day 3Eat all the soup, fruit and veggies you want. Do not have a baked potato.

Day 4Bananas and skim milk: Eat at least 3 bananas and drink as much milk as you can today, along with the soup.

Day 5Beef and tomatoes: you may have 10 to 20 ounces of beef and a can of tomatoes, or as many as 6 tomatoes on this day. Eat the soup at least once today.

Day 6Beef and veggies, eat to your heart’s content of the beef and veggies today. You can even have 2-3 steaks if you like with green leafy veggies but no baked potato. Be sure to eat the soup at least once today.

Day 7Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juice and veggies, until full (and eat the soup). You can add cooked veggies to your rice if you wish.

Drinks Allowed

• Unsweetened juices
• Tea (also herbal)
• Coffee
• Cranberry juice
• Skim milk
• Lots of water

The soup can be eaten at any time.

Sacred Heart Diet Variations

Here is a different version of the diet – alleged to have come from Lehigh Valley Hospital, Pennsylvania.

Follow the daily plan for 2 consecutive weeks, then take the following week off. You can repeat the cycle for as long as you like or until you achieve your weight loss goal.

MONDAYEat SOUP and all the FRESH FRUIT that you want. Nothing else. (no bananas)

TUESDAYEat SOUP and all the FRESH VEGETABLES that you want. Nothing else. (no corn or beans).

WEDNESDAYEat SOUP and BOTH FRUIT & VEGETABLES, all you want. Nothing else.

THURSDAYEat SOUP all day and 3 BANANAS. 1 GLASS OF SKIM MILK. Nothing else.

FRIDAYEat SOUP, up to 8 TOMATOES and ALL the skinless CHICKEN, lean BEEF & FISH that you want. Nothing else.

SATURDAYEat SOUP, ALL the skinless CHICKEN, lean BEEF & FISH that you want… nothing else.

SUNDAYEat SOUP and all the BROWN RICE that you want. Nothing else.

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