Latest COVID-19 Headlines
All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insurers Gain Early Wins in COVID-19 Business Interruption Lawsuits
Oct 5 2020 // Insurers have succeeded in dismissing COVID-19 business-interruption lawsuits in 17 out of 23 cases heard so far, with a growing number of judges finding that some tangible alteration of a property is required to trigger...
Alabama Insurance Dept. Makes COVID-Related Producer Licensing Modifications
Oct 5 2020 // The Alabama Department of Insurance has issued a bulletin providing information and directives regarding current deadlines/requirements in the Producer Licensing Division related to the COVID-19 emergency. The Oct. 1, 2020...
COVID-19: No One Avoids the Impact
Oct 5 2020 // Workers’ Compensation Premiums Down 8% in First Half of 2020 Prior to discussing the results of our review of aggregate workers’ compensation insurance written in the U.S. during the first half of 2020 versus...
Plaintiffs Win One, Lose One in COVID-19 BI Legal Fight
Oct 5 2020 // A federal judge in Florida late last month denied an insurer’s petition to dismiss a COVID-19 business-interruption lawsuit, while a federal magistrate judge in California threw out a similar claim. Both lawsuits...
Judges Nix Consolidating COVID Business Interruption Suits Against Big Insurers
Oct 4 2020 // A panel of federal judges has decided against consolidation of hundreds of lawsuits seeking coverage for coronavirus-related business interruption claims against major national insurers Travelers, The Hartford, Cincinnati...
Iowa Relaxing Quarantine Guidance Despite Rapid COVID Spread
Oct 2 2020 // Gov. Kim Reynolds announced a policy change this week to make it easier for Iowa students, teachers and business workers exposed to someone with COVID-19 to avoid a two-week quarantine, despite a surge in cases across the...
COVID-Sniffing Robots Promise Fast Testing Alternative
Oct 2 2020 // A biotechnology startup called Koniku is trying to develop robots that could sniff out Covid-19 infections faster than conventional testing. The technology fuses neurons with a silicon chip to create a “smell...
Amazon Reveals 19,000 Frontline Workers Contracted Coronavirus
Oct 2 2020 // Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday said more than 19,000 of its U.S. frontline workers contracted the coronavirus this year, or 1.44% of the total, a disclosure sought by labor advocates who have criticized the COVID-19 response...
Traffic Deaths Fell But Fatality Rate Spiked During Coronavirus Lockdowns
Oct 2 2020 // U.S. traffic deaths fell during the coronavirus lockdowns but drivers engaged in riskier behavior as the fatality rate spiked to its highest level in 15 years, according to preliminary data released Thursday. The National...
Virus Restrictions on Businesses, Gatherings Lifted in Most Tennessee Counties
Oct 2 2020 // Businesses in 89 of Tennessee’s 95 counties will no longer have to adhere to social distancing guidelines, Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday, even though cases of COVID-19 in the state have been persistently high. The...
Tennessee Won’t Disclose Which Businesses Got Virus Relief
Oct 1 2020 // Tennessee has given more than $170 million in federal relief funds to businesses struggling to survive during the coronavirus pandemic, but top state officials aren’t saying exactly who is getting the...
Few Wisconsin Residents Have COVID-19 Antibodies, Study Shows
Oct 1 2020 // Less than 2% of Wisconsin residents had antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19 as of July, based on early results of a study released Tuesday as cases of coronavirus in the state continue to soar. The study was...
Researchers Show How Conversation Spreads Virus Inside Buildings
Oct 1 2020 // With implications for the transmission of diseases like COVID-19, researchers have found that ordinary conversation creates a conical ‘jet-like’ airflow that quickly carries a spray of tiny droplets from a...
UK COVID-19 Insurance Dispute Could Be Heading to Supreme Court as Talks Falter
Oct 1 2020 // Britain’s markets regulator said on Wednesday it had failed to strike a deal with major insurers over prompt payouts to small businesses battered by the coronavirus pandemic, dashing hopes that a Supreme Court appeal...
Cal/OSHA Issues Citations to Grocery Stores for COVID-19 Violations
Sep 30 2020 // Cal/OSHA has cited five grocery stores in Southern California for failing to protect their employees from COVID-19. The retailers were cited for various health and safety violations, including some classified as serious,...
Kansas Sees Another COVID-19 Spike, Counties Worry About Aid
Sep 30 2020 // Kansas reported another seven-day record for new coronavirus cases, with 16% of the tests for the virus during that period coming back positive on Monday. The continued spike in confirmed and probable cases comes as...
COVID-19 Crisis Renews Attention on Systemic (Uninsurable) Risks
Sep 30 2020 // Reinsurers and insurers for years have been worried about systemic risks – those uninsurable risks with the potential of surpassing the capital of the industry. The COVID-19 crisis has renewed attention on these risks,...
Agents Warned of ‘Creative’ Attorneys, Virus Lawsuits
Sep 30 2020 // Agents and brokers should be on alert that plaintiffs’ attorneys in COVID-19 related business interruption claims lawsuits may be eyeing them as more cases against insurance companies begin to fail and claimants...
Study: 82% of Georgia Farmers Have Seen Decline in Revenue from Pandemic
Sep 29 2020 // A study conducted by the University of Georgia found that 82% of farmers in the state have seen their revenue decline due to the coronavirus pandemic. The findings released this month come from a May survey of more than...
COVID-19 Legislative Session in Louisiana Began This Week
Sep 29 2020 // Only three months removed from their last gathering, Louisiana legislators returned Monday for a special session focused on the coronavirus outbreak, with deepening rifts between Gov. John Bel Edwards and Republican...
