Latest COVID-19 Headlines
All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Workers’ Compensation and COVID: More Data on Evolving Claims
Feb 25 2021 // Workers’ compensation insurers aren’t getting the large aggregate volumes of COVID-related claims projected during the early months of the pandemic, but different data sources give varying readouts on...
Bill to Limit COVID-19 Lawsuits Approved in Missouri Senate
Feb 24 2021 // Missouri senators have passed a bill to shield hospitals, manufacturers and other businesses from lawsuits over alleged wrongdoing during the pandemic. The GOP-led Senate voted 20-13 in favor of the bill, which now goes to...
Missouri Auto Parts Manufacturer Cited in Worker’s Coronavirus Death
Feb 24 2021 // Federal workplace safety officials have cited a Missouri-based auto parts manufacturer for failing to maintain safe workplace conditions after worker tested positive for coronavirus and subsequently died of COVID-19, the...
Judge Advances Multidistrict COVID Business Interruption Case Against Society Insurance
Feb 24 2021 // A federal judge denied Society Insurance’s motions to dismiss three “bellwether” lawsuits filed by hospitality businesses that were denied coverage for revenue lost because of COVID-19 public health...
Italy’s Top Insurer Generali to Invest €3.5B in COVID-Hit European Countries
Feb 24 2021 // MILAN – Italy’s top insurer Generali said on Wednesday it launched a 3.5 billion euro ($4.26 billion) investment plan over five years to support the recovery of European countries hit by COVID-19. The plan, dubbed...
Aviation Regulator Sees Pandemic Bringing New Safety Risks
Feb 24 2021 // U.S. Federal Aviation Administration chief Steve Dickson warned on Tuesday of a changed industry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that has shaken air travel over the past year and created new safety risks that must be...
Judge Tosses Wife’s Suit Blaming Employer for Her Husband’s Covid
Feb 22 2021 // A federal judge tossed out a first-of-its-kind lawsuit that sought to hold an employer responsible for a worker’s spouse getting sick with Covid-19. U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney in San Francisco on Monday...
Indiana Governor Signs COVID-19 Liability Shield Legislation
Feb 22 2021 // Indiana businesses and others now have broad protections from lawsuits by people blaming them for contracting COVID-19 under a new state law. Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb on Feb. 18 signed the bill that he and GOP...
Cyberattack Strikes Pandemic-Besigned Navajo Nation Hospital
Feb 22 2021 // A pandemic-besieged hospital on the edge of the Navajo Nation says it has been the focus of a cyberattack. The nonprofit operator of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital in Gallup issued a brief statement acknowledging...
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...
