Latest COVID-19 Headlines
All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Bills That Help First Responders Hit by COVID-19 Advance in Virginia
Feb 22 2021 // Virginia lawmakers have passed bills that allow certain first responders to file workers’ compensation benefits for being disabled from COVID-19, but still need to reach agreement on some differences. The measures...
Insurer Wins Covid-19 Business Interruption Case Filed by New Orleans Restaurant
Feb 22 2021 // A New Orleans judge has denied a motion for declaratory judgment that insurance coverage is owed to a restaurant for business income that was lost when it was required to close its dining room because of the COVID-19...
Researchers Testing If Wearable Wristwatch Can Detect COVID-19 Infection
Feb 22 2021 // University of Miami Miller School of Medicine researchers are recruiting health care workers to study whether a wearable device, a wristwatch, can capture real time data that can be used to alert wearers of subtle...
Most Small Businesses Lost Sales Due to Pandemic: Fed Survey
Feb 22 2021 // The vast majority of U.S. small businesses took a hit to their revenue last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, with minority-owned businesses struggling the most and worrying more about accessing credit, according...
California Surplus Lines Weathered Pandemic, Wildfires, Civil Unrest
Feb 22 2021 // In a year marred by a pandemic, massive Western U.S. wildfires, civil unrest, and a contentious election, California’s surplus lines market “didn’t miss a beat.” That was the message from Ben McKay,...
It Could Have Been Worse. COVID-19’s Impact on Workers’ Compensation
Feb 22 2021 // While it obviously presented challenges, 2020 is looking like it may not have been such a bad year for workers’ compensation insurers and insureds after all. Insurers took in less premium but paid fewer claims. They...
AM Best Upgrades E&S Outlook; Praises Resiliency, Clear Terms Amid Pandemic
Feb 19 2021 // A.M. Best has upgraded its outlook for the U.S. excess & surplus lines insurance sector citing its resiliency in the face of pandemic challenges. A.M. Best revised its outlook for U.S. E&S to Stable from...
Wife Sues Husband’s Employer Over COVID-19 Infection
Feb 18 2021 // A federal judge is weighing what she called a first-of-its-kind lawsuit that would hold an employer responsible for a worker’s spouse getting sick with Covid-19. Plenty of families have sued businesses, from...
Many Firms Aren’t Paying OSHA Fines Levied for COVID-19 Safety Violations: Reuters
Feb 18 2021 // U.S. workplace safety regulators have announced more than $4 million in penalties on more than 300 employers they say put workers at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. But about two-thirds of these employers aren’t...
New York Court Finds Insurer Not Responsible for Theater’s COVID-19 Losses
Feb 17 2021 // The Supreme Court of the state of New York, Nassau County, has dismissed a movie theater’s claims that its insurer is responsible for covering its COVID-19 related losses and that its insurance brokers were negligent...
New York Attorney General Sues Amazon Over COVID-19 Shortfalls
Feb 17 2021 // New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Amazon.com Inc on Tuesday over its handling of worker safety issues around the COVID-19 pandemic at two warehouses, just days after the retailer filed its own lawsuit seeking to...
Indiana COVID-19 Lawsuit Shield Legislation Sent to Governor
Feb 17 2021 // A bill giving Indiana businesses and others broad protections from lawsuits by people blaming them for contracting COVID-19 has been given final approval by state lawmakers. The Republican-dominated state Senate voted 39-7...
Viewpoint: Post-Pandemic: Will Employers or Workers Have Upper Hand?
Feb 16 2021 // It’s been a year now since we came under the relentless domination of the coronavirus. After all this time, the picture isn’t pleasant. The end is uncertain and the implications for the future are far from...
COVID-19 Infections in U.S. Nearly 3X Greater Than Reported, University Model Estimates
Feb 12 2021 // World health experts have long suspected that the incidence of COVID-19 has been higher than reported. Now, a machine-learning algorithm developed at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center estimates that the...
Investors Eye Windfall From Denied COVID-19 Insurance Claims
Feb 12 2021 // A growing market niche where investors profit from others’ legal troubles is getting a boost from Covid. Distressed-investing funds and litigation-finance boutiques are likely to be spoiled for choice after a...
Irish Regulator Presses Insurers to Pay COVID-19 Claims Following Court Ruling
Feb 12 2021 // Ireland’s central bank governor told insurers to urgently honor and pay valid claims related to COVID-19 disruption, following a successful test case in court last week, or risk facing legal action by the...
Zurich 2020 Profit Drop of 8% Reflects Pandemic, Catastrophe Claims
Feb 12 2021 // Zurich Insurance’s new capital target disappointed market expectations on Thursday, even as claims related to the COVID-19 pandemic and higher losses from natural catastrophes bit less than expected into full-year...
Amazon Sues New York Over COVID Workplace Safety, Firing Lawsuit
Feb 12 2021 // Amazon.com Inc. on Friday sued New York’s attorney general to stop the state from filing its own lawsuit over the online retailer’s early response to COVID-19, including its firing of activist Christian...
Lawmakers Vote to Extend Georgia COVID Lawsuit Shield by One Year
Feb 12 2021 // The Georgia state House has voted in favor of extending by one year a law that protects businesses from being sued by a person that blames them for contracting COVID-19. The protection is currently set to expire on July...
Texas Bill Would Mandate Business Interruption Cover for Pandemic Losses
Feb 10 2021 // A bill filed in Texas would require business interruption insurance policies to cover losses from a pandemic. Under SB 249, filed by Sen. Charles Schwertner, business interruption insurance would be required to...
