Latest COVID-19 Headlines
All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Cyber Attack on EU Drug Regulator Has Not Disrupted Work on COVID-19 Vaccines
Dec 11 2020 // BRUSSELS – The head of the European Union drug regulator said on Thursday the agency’s work assessing COVID-19 vaccines had not been disrupted by a cyber attack that took place in the past two weeks. U.S. drugmaker...
COVID, Economy, Social Inflation Warrant Negative Commercial Lines Outlook: A.M. Best
Dec 11 2020 // U.S. commercial lines insurers will continue to be tarnished by an A.M. Best negative outlook, thanks to COVID-19 economic uncertainty, social inflation and other challenges. A.M. Best first revised its outlook for the...
Uber Asks States to Prioritize Delivery, Rideshare Drivers for COVID Vaccine
Dec 10 2020 // Uber Technologies Inc. on Thursday sent letters to the governors of all U.S. states, asking for its ride-hail and food delivery drivers to get early access to COVID-19 vaccines as essential workers. The company also said...
Insurers Ink $90 Billion in Merger Deals as They Pursue Post-Coronavirus Clout
Dec 10 2020 // Insurers pummeled by the pandemic are looking to deals as they race to see who’ll emerge strongest when the outbreak subsides. The takeover of RSA Insurance Group Plc and Allstate Corp.’s largest acquisition...
U.S. Drug Advisory Panel Meets Today on Pfizer’s COVID Vaccine
Dec 10 2020 // A panel of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is meeting on Thursday to weigh whether to recommend that the agency authorize Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, one of the last...
Workers With Second Jobs May Be Factor in Nursing Home COVID Risk: Study
Dec 10 2020 // Nurses and other long-term care workers in nursing homes who hold multiple jobs may be one of the factors contributing to the spread of COVID-19 in these facilities. According to a new study published in Medical Care...
Royal Caribbean Cruise Cut Short When Passenger Tests Positive for COVID-19
Dec 10 2020 // SINGAPORE – An elderly passenger on board a Royal Caribbean “cruise to nowhere” has been diagnosed with the coronavirus, prompting the voyage to be cut short as the vessel returned to Singapore on...
Why World Bank’s Controversial Pandemic Bonds Didn’t Function as Hoped
Dec 10 2020 // In late January 2015, just after the deadliest outbreak of Ebola in history, then-World Bank President Jim Yong Kim stood in front of a group of Georgetown University students and professors to introduce a new approach to...
Wichita, Kansas, Bar Owners Sue for Return to Pre-Pandemic Rules
Dec 9 2020 // Bar owners in Kansas’ largest city are challenging rules designed to slow the spread of COVID-19, hoping to use the courts to overturn a mask mandate, limits on public gatherings and an 11 p.m. closing time for bars...
Pandemic-Stricken Uber Sells Its Robot-Vehicle Division
Dec 9 2020 // Uber is selling off its autonomous vehicles development arm as the ride-hailing company slims down after its revenues were pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic. Self-driving vehicle technology company Aurora will acquire...
How to Address the Next Uninsurable Pandemic — A Black Swan Event
Dec 9 2020 // There aren’t many contexts where $2 trillion seems like a paltry sum. Then a pandemic comes along. The economic fallout from COVID-19 has left insurers issuing existential warnings and businesses discovering they...
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,...
