Latest COVID-19 Headlines
All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.
States Easing Path to Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Coronavirus Workers
Apr 21 2020 // Sympathetic state lawmakers and regulators in states both red and blue promise to make COVID-19 a major cost driver for workers’ compensation insurers. The governors of Kentucky, Arkansas, North Dakota and Florida...
COVID-19 Will Have Biggest Impact on Cannabis Space, Poll Shows
Apr 20 2020 // COVID-19 will have the biggest impact on cannabis and insurance the rest of this year and into the foreseeable future, according to the majority of participants in Insurance Journal’s April 15 webinar “Insuring...
California State Fund to Accept All Essential Worker COVID Claims; Adds to Safety Fund
Apr 20 2020 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund on Monday announced another series of actions designed to support policyholders and workers affected by the COVID-19 crisis, including doubling the size of its newly...
Positive Tests Mount After Virus Outbreak at North Dakota Wind Turbine Plant
Apr 20 2020 // A coronavirus outbreak at a northeastern North Dakota wind turbine plant has ballooned to 110 cases in early testing and one city official said he expects a “prolonged battle” to control the spread. An uptick...
Oregon Nursing Home Reports 14 Virus Deaths, State Finds Violations
Apr 20 2020 // Workers at a Portland, Ore. nursing home that has reported 14 coronavirus deaths failed to wash their hands, didn’t use protective masks properly and weren’t trained on how to control the spread of infection,...
Layoffs, Small Business Exits Likely Major Coronavirus Effects on Workers’ Comp: NCCI
Apr 20 2020 // A new analysis of the economic effects of the coronavirus finds that while layoffs of workers will have the most immediate effect on workers’ compensation, a rise in business failures could pose a major challenge...
Amazon Extends French Warehouse Closures on COVID-19 Safety Dispute with Workers
Apr 20 2020 // Amazon will keep its six warehouses in France closed until at least April 22 after a stand-off with unions over sanitary conditions amid the coronavirus outbreak, it said on Sunday. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant has...
Notre Dame Restoration Halted by France’s Coronavirus Lockdown
Apr 20 2020 // Notre Dame Cathedral stands crippled and alone, locked in a dangerous web of warped scaffolding one year after a cataclysmic fire gutted its interior, toppled its famous spire and horrified the world. Some of the 40,000...
Pandemic Crisis Story: Moving 1000-Plus Employees in 7 Countries in Just 2 Weeks
Apr 20 2020 // Amit Tiwari, chief operating officer at Xceedance, the Boston-based insurance consulting, managed services, and insurtech company, explains the challenges of enabling business continuity plans in the face of a global...
TDI Modernization Efforts Paying Off During Pandemic, Commissioner Says
Apr 20 2020 // The employees of the state agency in charge of regulating the insurance industry in Texas might not put it this way, but in a sense, operationally at least, they have been preparing for the current health crisis brought on...
Wisconsin’s Society Insurance Hit with Lawsuits Over Coronavirus Claim Denials
Apr 20 2020 // Two lawsuits have been filed in federal court in Illinois by a group of businesses that were forced to close their operations by government authorities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic over the denial of business...
Pandemic Stress: A Challenge for Agents
Apr 20 2020 // One challenge that agents face during this pandemic has been ignored: high stress levels, not just from housebound, income-challenged clients but also from agency staff working from home. I have heard many stories from...
D&O Insurance Coverage and Coronavirus: Avoiding Exclusions
Apr 20 2020 // Sometimes an article needs an introduction to put the subject in context for the reader. Sadly, no introduction is needed for the coronavirus. It will have affected everyone who reads this. Some will have suffered...
P/C Insurance Least Likely to Default Due to Coronavirus: S&P Credit
Apr 20 2020 // Compared to others, the property/casualty insurance industry is weathering the coronavirus crisis rather well. Property/casualty insurance is the least-impacted industry by the coronavirus pandemic, at least so far,...
Wimbledon Shows How Pandemic Insurance Could Become Vital Coverage for Sports, Other Events
Apr 20 2020 // The Wimbledon tennis tournament had the foresight to buy around £1.5 million (US$1.9 million) per year in pandemic insurance following the SARS outbreak in 2003, said GlobalData in a recent bulletin. Paying out roughly...
Quoting Requests to Agencies Down 30% Since Coronavirus Shutdowns
Apr 20 2020 // While consumers may have more time to consider their insurance needs during this period of stay-at-home orders and non-essential business shutdowns brought on by the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic, they aren’t...
Game ON: Young Agents Take On COVID Crisis
Apr 20 2020 // The death toll from the coronavirus keeps rising. So too does the economic toll. The crisis has decimated huge sectors of the economy, leading to unprecedented unemployment and business closures. It has been a time of...
How To Stretch Your Recruiting Budget During & After COVID-19
Apr 20 2020 // COVID-19’s lasting effect on hiring will force insurance organizations to make difficult staffing decisions. It isn’t the norm for me to write a budget and planning article in April; I assume the same can be...
Florida Directs Workers’ Comp Insurers to Comply with COVID-19 Treatment Order
Apr 20 2020 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has issued an informational memorandum to all insurers and entities authorized to write workers’ compensation insurance providing guidance on the treatment of policyholders...
4 Ways COVID-19 Will Change Cannabis and Insurance
Apr 20 2020 // One may not need to be able to read the cannabis leaves to divine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cannabis and insurance. Some good guesses from any insurance professional with their foot in the door of a...
