Latest COVID-19 Headlines

All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Buckle Adds Delivery Coverage During Pandemic for Georgia Rideshare Drivers

May 18 2020 // Buckle, a technology-driven financial services company, has been granted temporary approval to add insurance coverage to its rideshare driver members’ policies for the delivery of food, household supplies, and other...

How Do Cyber Policies Stand-Up in a Pandemic?

May 18 2020 // We are in unprecedented times. If you’re like us, you suddenly found yourself and your company operating entirely remotely and have remained working this way for quite some time. Such an abrupt change can be a...

Buffett Says Berkshire Would Write Pandemic Insurance. That Is, If the Price Is Right.

May 18 2020 // The chairman of Berkshire Hathaway said that while his insurance units aren’t heavily exposed to underwriting losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, the insurer would be willing to cover pandemics in the...

Goodbye Open Plan Office? Hello 6-Feet Social Distancing Workspace?

May 18 2020 // One-way corridors, buffer zones around desks, and clear plastic screens to guard against colleagues’ coughs and sneezes may become office standards after coronavirus stay-at-home orders are lifted, say occupational...

What to Expect in Workers’ Compensation Costs From COVID-19: NCCI

May 18 2020 // If only 10% of health care workers contract COVID-19 and all of their claims are deemed compensable, workers’ compensation loss costs for that sector could double or even triple in some states, according to an...

Transparency Is Key for Insurance Agents Handling Coronavirus Claims

May 18 2020 // Business interruption insurance has been a much-debated topic during the coronavirus crisis, with some businesses already pushing back against virus-related claim denials. In several cities, groups of businesses have filed...

States Will Not Win in Mandating Coronavirus Business Interruption Coverage: S&P

May 18 2020 // Standard & Poor’s said it does not expect state legislators to succeed in their efforts to retroactively expand business interruption insurance coverage for COVID-19-related losses. The reason: An expectations of...

COVID-19 Clouding Cannabis Industry Pitfalls Amid Upbeat Outlook

May 18 2020 // The cannabis industry is being affected by COVID-19 much like other business sectors, but the complexities of this budding industry make its eventual recovery from the pandemic and ensuing economic fallout even harder to...

The Perilous Cannabis, Cyber, COVID-19 Connection

May 18 2020 // Cannabis, cyber and COVID-19 — the three Cs may have more in common than meets the eye. Cannabis dispensaries, now considered essential businesses in many states, have stepped up deliveries, curbside picksups and...

California Workers’ Comp Bureau Chief Addresses COVID’s Impact on System

May 15 2020 // Bill Mudge has been put in a unique position during the pandemic. He’s got a sizeable workforce he’s had to reconfigure and manage much differently, and he heads the bureau that regulators, employers and...

California Music Venues Sue Insurer over Business Interruption Related to COVID-19

May 15 2020 // San Francisco Bay Area-based music venue Ivy Room has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of California-based music venues against a major insurance provider, saying the venues were wrongfully denied coverage for losses...

Study Finds State, Local Measures Have Reduced Coronavirus Cases by 34 Million

May 15 2020 // A new report titled, “Strong Social Distancing Measures in the United States Reduced the COVID-19 Growth Rate” finds that steps taken to reduce the spread of corononavirus by state and local governments have...

Walt Disney, Unions Agree on Coronavirus Worker Safeguards for Reopening Parks

May 15 2020 // Walt Disney Co. and unions representing workers at Florida’s Walt Disney World have reached an agreement on safeguards to protect employees from coronavirus, a union statement said on Thursday, removing one of the...

UK Regulator Announces Pandemic Relief Measures for Insurance Customers

May 15 2020 // The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced a set of measures to help insurance customers who may be suffering financial difficulties as a result of coronavirus pandemic. The measures include premium reductions,...

Few Coronavirus Liability Lawsuits Have Been Filed Thus Far

May 15 2020 // Businesses are urging U.S. lawmakers to shield companies from what they fear could be a flood of lawsuits by workers and consumers blaming employers for exposing them to the new coronavirus. But so far, court records show...

Typhoon Vongfong Tests Philippines’ Ability to Protect Evacuees from Coronavirus

May 15 2020 // Typhoon Vongfong forced more than 150,000 people in the Philippines to leave their homes, risking coronavirus infection as they move to usually packed shelters. Intense rains and strong winds damaged houses and crops as...

Kansas Sausage Making Plant with COVID-19 Cases Shuts Down

May 15 2020 // A Kansas plant that makes sausage shut down on May 13 after employees tested positive for the coronavirus, and an outbreak that has infected hundreds at the state’s largest prison claimed the life of another...

Workers Protesting the Virus May Be Just the Start: Opinion

May 15 2020 // In recent weeks, employees at sites as diverse as Amazon warehouses, meat-processing plants and emergency rooms have raised the alarm over unsafe conditions posed by the new coronavirus. Workplace infections have been...

Bid to Force Interruption Insurance to Cover Virus Pulled from Louisiana Bill

May 14 2020 // Louisiana lawmakers won’t try to force business interruption insurance policies to cover the widespread closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sen. Rick Ward, a Port Allen Republican, shelved the proposal amid...

Oklahoma Senate OKs Bill Limiting Coronavirus Liability for Businesses

May 14 2020 // The Oklahoma Senate has approved legislation giving liability relief to essential businesses and those working to safely reopen, as well as a measure protecting manufacturers and people who make or donate materials related...