Latest COVID-19 Headlines
All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.
COVID Liability Protection Bill for Businesses, Other Groups Heads to Governor
Apr 26 2021 // The South Carolina House is sending a bill preventing people with COVID-19 from suing businesses and other groups to the governor’s desk. The proposal protects businesses as long as they follow guidelines to protect...
No Delays Found in Medical Care for Workers’ Compensation Claimants During COVID
Apr 26 2021 // Despite potential obstacles posed by the coronavirus pandemic, injured workers experienced no meaningful delays in access to medical treatment under their employers’ workers’ compensation programs during the...
Pet Insurance Outshines Travel, Other Inland Marine Coverages Cut by COVID: AM Best
Apr 23 2021 // The U.S. inland marine insurance segment experienced a “significant downturn in profitability” in 2020, with its loss ratio deteriorating by nearly 16 percentage points amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to...
South Carolina Gov, Business Groups Push for COVID Liability Protection
Apr 22 2021 // South Carolina’s governor is pushing state lawmakers to approve a bill that would prevent people who contract COVID-19 from suing businesses and other groups that have followed federal and state health guidelines. In...
Workplace Safety Regulator Warns Of COVID-19 Hazards Inside Iowa Capitol
Apr 21 2021 // A top workplace safety regulator warned the Republican leaders of the Iowa Legislature that conditions inside the state Capitol are hazardous and may be exposing workers to the coronavirus, according to documents released...
Charting COVID: 1 Year In!
Apr 21 2021 // On March 20,2020, I began tracking COVID – specifically the daily numbers of new cases, deaths and recoveries. I undertook this task for several reasons: I enjoy data, I wasn’t going anywhere for a while, but more...
COVID-19 Experiences Show Need for Employment Practices Insurance
Apr 21 2021 // As soon as the first community was shut down to slow the spread of the coronavirus or the first announcement of a safer at home order by a governor, some of us saw the storm of suits coming related to the loss of business...
Businesses Turned to Risk Management Technology More During Pandemic
Apr 21 2021 // Driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses and public entities increased their reliance on risk management technologies, as vendors expanded their offerings to meet their needs. A survey of 1,100 risk professionals found...
P/C Insurers Returned $13B in Premiums Due to COVID-19 Reduced Exposures
Apr 21 2021 // U.S. property/casualty insurers returned nearly $13 billion in premiums to policyholders in 2020 to reflect reduced exposures from the COVID-19 pandemic. Auto insurers returned premium in the greatest numbers, though...
J&J to Resume Shipments of COVID-19 Vaccine to EU with Safety Warning
Apr 21 2021 // Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday it will resume rolling out its COVID-19 vaccine in Europe after the region’s medical regulator said the benefits of the shot outweigh the risk of very rare, potentially lethal...
Jabs on the Job: Companies, Unions Offering COVID-19 Vaccines
Apr 21 2021 // Marie Watson wanted to be among the first in line when she and other essential workers became eligible for the coronavirus vaccine — and with good reason. The maintenance parts buyer for a Mission Foods tortilla plant in...
Wisconsin Food Plant Worker Sues ConAgra After Contracting COVID-19
Apr 20 2021 // A food plant employee is suing his Walworth County, Wisconsin, employer alleging he contracted the coronavirus at work and infected his wife who died from the disease. Rigoberto Ruiz, of Beloit, says ConAgra Foods...
How Meatpacking Plants’ COVID-19 Cases Hurt Counties
Apr 20 2021 // An estimated 334,000 COVID-19 cases are attributable to meatpacking plants, resulting in $11.2 billion in economic damage, according to a new study led by a researcher at the University of California, Davis. The study was...
Pandemic-Delayed Trials Over Drugmakers’ Marketing of Opioids to Begin
Apr 19 2021 // Four drugmakers, including Johnson & Johnson and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., will go to trial on Monday over claims they helped fuel an opioid crisis that has resulted in nearly 500,000 overdose deaths in the...
P/C Insurers Show 2020 Underwriting Profits Despite COVID-19: Fitch
Apr 19 2021 // Despite considerable operating challenges in 2020 from the global COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. property/casualty (P/C) insurers saw a statutory underwriting profit for the third consecutive year, with an average 99% combined...
Businesses Filing More COVID Lawsuits and the Stakes are Higher
Apr 19 2021 // The anniversary of COVID-19 shutdown orders brought an upturn in both the number of business-interruption lawsuits against insurers and the amount of damages they are claiming. In the past month: A New Jersey hospital...
Report: 44K-Plus Workers’ Comp COVID-19 Claims Filed in Texas by Mid-February
Apr 19 2021 // An updated report on workers’ compensation claims in Texas related to COVID-19 shows that insurance carriers had reported more than 44,000 COVID-19 claims and 200 fatalities to the state’s workers’...
Risk of COVID-19 Exposure on Airlines Drops when Middle Seats Are Empty: Study
Apr 16 2021 // The risk of being exposed to the COVID-19 virus on an airline flight drops by as much as half when airlines keep middle seats open, a new study published by the U.S. government concludes, a safety practice the carriers...
COVID Liability Shield for Businesses Becomes Law in Kentucky
Apr 15 2021 // Kentucky’s governor stood aside and let a bill become law that protects an array of businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits. But he warned Monday that the measure is likely to draw a court challenge. The...
IBM Uncovers More Cyber Attacks on COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Chain
Apr 15 2021 // International Business Machines Corp. said on Wednesday its cyber-security unit has uncovered more digital attacks targeting the global COVID-19 vaccine supply chain since the issue was originally flagged late last...
