Latest COVID-19 Headlines
All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Georgia Gambles on Reopening Business Amid Pandemic
Apr 23 2020 // A handful of mostly southern U.S. states will begin loosening economic restrictions this week in the midst of a still virulent pandemic, providing a live-fire test of whether America’s communities can start to reopen...
Travelers, W.R. Berkley CEOs Sound Alarm Over Coronavirus Lawsuits, Workers’ Comp
Apr 23 2020 // During an earnings conference call Tuesday, the leader of Travelers insurance alerted listeners to the possibility that frivolous lawsuits by plaintiffs lawyers could slow down the economic recovery from COVID-19...
Texas to Insurers: Credit Score Exemption Rules Apply During Pandemic
Apr 22 2020 // The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has issued a reminder to carriers that Insurance Code Section 559.103 provides for exceptions to the use of credit scores affected by certain events, including temporary job...
How COVID-19 Impacts the Surplus Lines Insurance Industry
Apr 22 2020 // COVID-19 has majorly disrupted the global economy, and while many business sectors are subjected to temporary shutdowns or bare minimum operations, the insurance industry is racing forward while confronting unprecedented...
Despite Virus Outbreak, Midwest States Work to Keep Meat Plants Open
Apr 22 2020 // Governors in the Midwest are working to keep large meatpacking plants operating despite coronavirus outbreaks that have sickened hundreds of workers and threaten to disrupt the nation’s supply of pork and beef. In...
Chubb Reports Q1 Net Income Drop; Sees ‘Meaningful’ Coronavirus Impact Ahead
Apr 22 2020 // Chubb said that the coronavirus pandemic’s effects on its bottom line were relatively benign in the 2020 first quarter. But all bets are off for the months ahead. The global property/casualty insurer reported net...
Hannover Re, Parent Firm Talanx Withdraw 2020 Profit Guidance on Virus Uncertainties
Apr 22 2020 // In view of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and the associated uncertainties surrounding both the claims development and the capital market environment, Hannover Re and its parent company, Talanx, have withdrawn their profit...
Conspiracy Theorists Set Fire to Europe’s 5G Network Towers, Claiming Link to COVID-19
Apr 22 2020 // The CCTV footage from a Dutch business park shows a man in a black cap pouring the contents of a white container at the base of a cellular radio tower. Flames burst out as the man jogs back to his Toyota to flee into the...
Arizona Insurer of Physicians Declares $12M Dividend to Help in COVID-19 Pandemic
Apr 22 2020 // Mutual Insurance Company of Arizona has declared a special dividend designed to provide economic relief to its members. The company will distribute a $12 million dividend to all members with policies in-force as of April...
What Companies Need to Disclose on Coronavirus Infections: Q&A
Apr 21 2020 // Almost all U.S. companies are likely to include in their quarterly filings broad statements on risks the ongoing coronavirus pandemic poses to their businesses. Should they be disclosing more? Smithfield Foods Inc., the...
Travelers Sees Q1 Profit Fall From Storms; It’s Watching COVID-19 Workers’ Comp Claims
Apr 21 2020 // Property and casualty insurer Travelers Cos. Inc. reported a 25% drop in quarterly profit on Tuesday and warned that potential claims tied to compensation coverage for furloughed and laid-off employees would hit results...
Iowa Beef Plant Reopens After 177 Workers Test Positive for Virus
Apr 21 2020 // An Iowa beef processing plant that was idled after a coronavirus outbreak resumed production Monday, one day after the state said 177 workers there have tested positive. The Iowa Premium plant in Tama, owned by National...
California Workers’ Comp Bureau to Restrict COVID-19 Experience, Payroll in Rating
Apr 21 2020 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California has submitted a special regulatory filing to the California Insurance Commissioner with proposals to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The WCIRB governing...
California Details Nursing Homes with COVID-19 Outbreaks
Apr 21 2020 // California has for the first time released details about nursing homes facing coronavirus outbreaks, with three facilities in Los Angeles among the hardest-hit, as the numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths across the state...
Businesses Press Congress for Immunity When States Lift Coronavirus Lockdowns
Apr 21 2020 // Major U.S. business lobbying groups are asking Congress to pass measures that would protect companies large and small from coronavirus-related lawsuits when states start to lift pandemic restrictions and businesses begin...
New York Nurses Sue State and Two Hospitals Over ‘Inadequate’ Virus Protection
Apr 21 2020 // The New York State Nurses Association sued the state and two hospitals on Monday to force them to provide equipment and adopt safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among the association’s members in the...
Ferrari Provides Coronavirus Tests so Employees Can Return to Work
Apr 21 2020 // Workers at Ferrari are signing up en masse for voluntary coronavirus screening so they can return to work as soon as possible in an ambitious scheme that could serve as a blueprint for manufacturers desperate to resume...
UK Insurance Industry Leaders Form Steering Group to Propose Pandemic Response, Chaired by Catlin
Apr 21 2020 // UK Insurance industry leaders have combined to form a steering group, which will work with terrorism reinsurer Pool Re, with the primary objective to ensure that, working alongside the industry to support customers and...
4 Tyson Foods Poultry Workers in Georgia Die of Coronavirus
Apr 21 2020 // Four employees of a major poultry producer’s operations in rural southwest Georgia have died after becoming infected with the coronavirus, a company spokesman said Friday. Tyson Foods spokesman Gary Mickelson said...
South Carolina: Hurricane Response Plan a ‘Good Question’ Amid Virus Outbreak
Apr 21 2020 // With hurricane season less than two months away, officials in South Carolina said they don’t yet have a good plan in place if a storm hits during the coronavirus outbreak, particularly for people potentially...
