Coronavirus: Insurance providers change tune

The Insurance Regulatory Authority has said any policy holder who gets infected with the virus will be covered.

In a Press statement released on Friday, IRA said this is in support of the government’s mitigation measures aimed at minimizing exposure.

“The Commissioner of Insurance Godfrey Kiptum would like to dispel fears by members of the public that insurance companies will not cater for the needs of those infected by the virus,” the statement reads.

The IRA further stated that they are engaging with the National Emergency Response Committee on coronavirus as part of its mandate to advise the Government on insurance matters.

A day earlier, the IRA Commissioner of Insurance had said policy holders would not be covered.

His Thursday statement had said: “The insurers will not be able to offer medical insurance cover for the condition at this moment in time.”

He further stated that epidemics and pandemics are excluded in the policy documents calling on those with insurance covers to peruse through the terms.

The change of tune comes on the same day that a Kenyan tested positive for coronavirus.

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe revealed that the patient is a Kenyan woman who travelled from the U.S. to Kenya via London and arrived in the country on March 5, 2020.

She is currently receiving treatment at the Kenyatta National Hospital and a rapid response team has been dispatched to Ongata Rongai where she resided.