Latest COVID-19 Headlines
All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.
States Grapple With Determining Who’s Essential, Who’s Not for COVID Vaccine
Dec 9 2020 // Companies and industry groups lobbying to get their U.S. workers to the front of the line for COVID vaccination are running into a patchwork of state plans and confusion over who is essential, and who is not. Inoculation...
Nevada Judge Says Gig Workers Must Get Pandemic Benefits
Dec 8 2020 // A state court judge held the Nevada unemployment office in contempt and gave it until the end of the month to comply with his July court order to resume paying pandemic relief benefits to almost 9,500 out-of-work gig...
As They Focus on COVID-19 Surge, Hospitals Become Targets for Cyber Attacks
Dec 8 2020 // By late morning on Oct. 28, staff at the University of Vermont Medical Center noticed the hospital’s phone system wasn’t working. Then the internet went down, and the Burlington-based center’s technical...
Florida Nursing Homes Will Be First to Receive COVID Vaccine
Dec 8 2020 // Residents in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities will be the first to get a coronavirus vaccine when Florida begins receiving it later this month, Gov. Ron DeSantis said. DeSantis’ priorities, announced in...
Kentucky City, County to Waive License Fees for Restaurants, Bars Due to Pandemic
Dec 8 2020 // Kentucky’s Daviess County Fiscal Court and Owensboro City Commission are preparing to waive license fees for restaurants and bars to help ease the burden of the coronavirus pandemic, the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer...
Expansion of Workers’ Compensation for COVID-19 in 6 States Created Narrow Benefit
Dec 8 2020 // While at least 17 states have passed laws or issued orders that expanded access to workers’ compensation benefits for employees who contract COVID-19, many of those directives are creating new exposure for only a...
Bankrupt Store Chain Sells $175M Unpaid COVID Insurance Claim to Pay Debt
Dec 7 2020 // There’s an unusual asset up for grabs in Century 21 Stores’ going-out-of-business sale: a stake in its long-shot legal fight against insurers. The New York department store company, which filed for bankruptcy...
Cathay Pacific Collaborates with AXA to Provide Free COVID-19 Insurance to Passengers
Dec 7 2020 // Cathay Pacific is collaborating with AXA General Insurance Hong Kong Ltd. to provide free COVID-19 coverage to all passengers. Customers who fly with Cathay Pacific from Dec. 7 to Feb. 28, 2021 will be covered for medical...
30 Major League Baseball Teams Sue insurers Over Lost Revenue Due to Coronavirus
Dec 7 2020 // Major League Baseball and all 30 of its teams are suing their insurance providers, citing billions of dollars in losses during the 2020 season played almost entirely without fans due to the coronavirus pandemic. The suit,...
Millennials, Women ‘Sandwiched’ as COVID-19 Shifts Caregiving Responsibilities
Dec 4 2020 // The demographics of the Sandwich Generation – those who care for both their children and aging parents – as well the financial responsibilities they face as a result of COVID-19— are changing. The Sandwich Generation...
SEC Fines Cheesecake Factory for Misleading Disclosures About COVID Financial Impact
Dec 4 2020 // The Securities and Exchange Commission said it has settled charges against The Cheesecake Factory Inc. for misleading disclosures about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business operations and financial...
Momentum Is Building for Pre-Flight COVID-19 Airport Testing
Dec 4 2020 // Even as the race to approve and distribute COVID-19 vaccines is entering its final stretch, parts of the travel industry are sprinting to a different finish line: airport testing. In hubs large and small, from JFK to...
Germany Extends $37B Backstop for Credit Insurers to Keep Pandemic Trade Flowing
Dec 4 2020 // Germany agreed to extend a backstop for commercial credit insurers by six months to keep trade flowing and prevent bankruptcies as the economy is hit by a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Under the deal, which...
IBM Warns COVID Vaccine ‘Cold Chain’ Process Has Been Targeted by Hackers
Dec 4 2020 // IBM is sounding the alarm over hackers targeting companies critical to the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, a sign that digital spies are turning their attention to the complex logistical work involved in inoculating the...
Small Business Insurtech Huckleberry to Offer Pandemic Business Interruption Plan
Dec 3 2020 // Huckleberry, a small business insurance purchasing platform, has launched a new offering designed for small businesses impacted by pandemic-related stressors and costs. The Pandemic Business Interruption plan will be...
U.S. Employers Have Right to Mandate COVID-19 Vaccine. But Will They?
Dec 3 2020 // Private U.S. companies have the right under the law to require employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but are unlikely to do so because of the risks of legal and cultural backlash, experts said. Companies are still...
Texas County Shuts Down Bars as COVID Hospitalizations Surge
Dec 2 2020 // A Central Texas county has closed its bars after area hospitalizations for COVID-19 exceeded a state mandated limit. Meanwhile in Houston, officials say they are having problems with some bars that have been allowed to...
California Wants Hospitals to Test All Workers for Virus
Dec 2 2020 // California has asked hospitals to ramp up their coronavirus testing amid a surge of new cases, urging them to test health care workers at least once per week while testing all new patients before admitting them. California...
Pennsylvania Governor Strikes Down Bill That Would Have Limited COVID-19 Lawsuits
Dec 2 2020 // Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has vetoed a bill that would have expanded liability protection against COVID-19-related lawsuits for various businesses and entities in the state as they continue to grapple with coronavirus...
California Will Provide $500M in Virus Aid for Small Businesses
Dec 2 2020 // California will provide temporary tax relief and $500 million in aid to small businesses struggling because of coronavirus outbreak restrictions, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday. The tax measures include a three-month...
