New Delhi, March 26: On the second day of the nationwide lockdown period, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed the media on Thursday. She announced a series of relief package today and one of them was Rs 50 lakh as medical insurance cover per person for three months. The amount is for everyone who is out saving the lives of people during the coronavirus outbreak, be it doctors, sanitation workers or nurses. She announced that 20 lakh people would benefit from this scheme.

This was the second media briefing by the finance minister within a week. Sitharaman had earlier announced a series of relief measures for industry and taxpayers. Nirmala Sitharaman Makes Important Announcements on Income Tax Return Filing Deadlines, GST And More Amid Coronavirus Outbreak: Check Full List of Announcements.

The Indian markets rallied from the morning on hopes that the government is likely to announce relief measures for the country that is grappling with the deadly coronavirus. The total number of COVID-19 positive cases rose to 649 in India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. The report also stated the death toll in India due to novel coronavirus has reached 13.

Last time, the FM made some big announcement, from extending the deadlines of income tax filing, Aadhaar-PAN Linking among others in a bid to provide relief amid the coronavirus crisis. All last dates and deadlines of document submission and compliance have been moved to June 30.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2020 01:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).