Latest COVID-19 Headlines
All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.
M&A Insurance Rates Nearly Double After Explosion of Dealmaking During Pandemic
Dec 10 2021 // The cost of insurance to cover problems involving M&A has nearly doubled in just two years, underwriters and brokers said, after an explosion of global dealmaking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Potential buyers take out...
Norwegian Cruise Ship Outside New Orleans Reports COVID Outbreak
Dec 6 2021 // Ten people aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line ship approaching New Orleans have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said over the weekend. The Norwegian Breakaway had departed New Orleans on Nov. 28 and is due to return...
Why Millions Have Left Workforce During Pandemic
Dec 6 2021 // Approximately five million people in the U.S. are unemployed or have left the workforce since the pandemic began, and it is difficult to predict whether their decision was short term or permanent. According to S&P...
Report: California Workers’ Comp Covid Claim Volume Trending Down After Summer Surge
Dec 6 2021 // The summer surge of COVID-19 claims that hit the California workers’ compensation system in July and August appears to have run its course, according to the California Workers’ Compensation Institute. A CWCI...
Update on Court Challenges to Biden Covid Vaccine Rules
Dec 2 2021 // Courts have recently blocked some of the Biden administration’s rules and regulations aimed at increasing U.S. vaccination against COVID-19, which has killed more than 750,000 Americans and weighs on economic...
Despite COVID, Comp Claims and Severity Declined in 2020, NCCI Says
Dec 1 2021 // The disease known as COVID-19 may have caused wrenching changes around the world, but its effects on workers’ compensation claims were relatively minor in 2020, the National Council on Compensation Insurance said in...
Labor Group Calls for Probe of Amazon’s Reporting of Covid Cases at Facilities
Dec 1 2021 // Amazon.com Inc. provided “misleading or grossly incomplete” data about the number of Covid-19 infections potentially spread in its U.S. facilities, according to a labor group calling on the federal government...
Tennessee Approves 5.6% Cut in Workers’ Comp Loss Costs; COVID Impact Uncertain
Nov 30 2021 // The Tennessee commissioner of commerce and insurance has ratified a 5.6% decrease in workers’ compensation loss costs for voluntary market in 2022, which will result in the ninth straight year of rate decreases for...
Florida Bill Would Extend COVID Liability Protection for Health Workers
Nov 29 2021 // A Florida Senate committee has drafted a bill that would extend health care providers’ COVID-19 liability protection for another 14 months. Committee Chair Sen. Danny Burgess The Legislature in 2021 created the...
U.S. Unlikely to Impose Further Restrictions Due to Omicron COVID Variant, Says Fauci
Nov 29 2021 // The United States is unlikely to impose further restrictions amid the anticipated arrival of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, the nation’s top infectious disease official said on Monday after a travel ban on some...
As COVID Spread, European P/C Insurers Took Hits but Remained Resilient: AM Best
Nov 29 2021 // European property/casualty insurers faced a dip in total average gross written premium and after-tax profit in 2020, but their regulatory solvency ratios remained strong. Pandemic factors generally played a role in both...
Washington Paper Mill Fined $140K for Failing to Protect Workers from COVID
Nov 24 2021 // A Cowlitz County, Washington, papermaking plant is facing nearly $140,000 in fines after one worker died and more than a dozen machine operators got sick with COVID-19. An inspection by the Department of Labor &...
Report: California Workers’ Comp Covid Claim Volume Trending Down After Summer Surge
Nov 23 2021 // The summer surge of COVID-19 claims that hit the California workers’ compensation system in July and August appears to have run its course, according to the California Workers’ Compensation Institute. A CWCI...
U.S. Asks Appeals Court to Lift Stay on COVID Vaccine Mandate or Allow Mask Rule
Nov 23 2021 // The U.S. government asked a federal appeals court to immediately lift a court-ordered stay on a sweeping workplace COVID-19 vaccine rule to avoid “enormous” harm to public health, or alternatively to allow a...
Eight Dead from COVID, 89 Infected at Connecticut Nursing Home
Nov 17 2021 // Eight residents of a nursing home in Connecticut have died during a coronavirus outbreak while 89 residents and employees have tested positive for the disease, nursing home officials say. The outbreak at the Geer Nursing...
Smithfield to Pay $13,494 Over Coronavirus Hazards at South Dakota Facility
Nov 17 2021 // Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. – the country’s largest pork processor – has agreed to assemble a team of company and third-party experts to develop an infectious disease preparedness plan that the company will...
California Labor Commissioner Cites Grocer $1.1M for COVID Sick Leave Practices
Nov 15 2021 // The California Labor Commissioner’s Office cited Bodega Latina (dba El Super grocery stores) in Southern California $1,164,500 for failing to provide or delaying supplemental paid sick leave or other benefits to 240...
Federal Court Continues Stay on OSHA’s COVID Vaccine/Test Mandate on Businesses
Nov 14 2021 // A federal court declined Friday to lift its stay on the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more workers. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency...
California Preparing for Possible Winter Pandemic Surge
Nov 12 2021 // California has begun positioning equipment and locking in contracts with temporary health care workers in preparation for another possible winter surge of coronavirus cases, Gov. Gavin Newsom said. The most populous state...
Allianz Posts Better-Than-Expected Q3 Net Profit as It Emerges From COVID Pressures
Nov 10 2021 // Allianz nudged its forecast for record profit in 2021 even higher on Wednesday after a bumper third quarter while it tries to work out how much money it may need to set aside for a U.S. investigation into its fund...
