Latest COVID-19 Headlines
All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.
AIR Model Estimates Pandemic Flu Losses
Jun 27 2013 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide (AIR) has released a Pandemic Flu Model, which it says captures the excess morbidity, mortality, and insurance losses caused by pandemic influenza. AIR said the model includes...
Analysis: Deadly New Bird Flu Virus Vindicates Controversial Research
Apr 8 2013 // Scientists in the Dutch city of Rotterdam know precisely what it takes for a bird flu virus to mutate into a potential human pandemic strain, because they’ve created just such mutant viruses in the laboratory. So, as...
Scientists in Race to Gauge Pandemic Risk of New Bird Flu
Apr 3 2013 // Genetic sequence data on a deadly strain of bird flu previously unknown in people show the virus has already acquired some mutations that might make it more likely to cause a human pandemic, scientists say. But there is no...
Has Flu Pandemic Peaked? ‘Not Quite,’ Say Health Experts
Feb 24 2010 // Has the swine flu pandemic peaked globally? Not quite, World Health Organization advisers decided on Tuesday. WHO is taking a big risk in making such an announcement at all, and the wording of WHO Director-General Dr....
Aon Offers Insurance for Pandemic Building Closures
Oct 28 2009 // Aon’s London office has announced that companies can now insure themselves for costs incurred if their building or the vicinity is officially closed due to a pandemic. Aon launched the coverage as cases of the H1N1...
British Insurers State Position on Nat’l. Pandemic Flu Service and Travel
Jul 24 2009 // The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has issued a bulletin to coincide with the start up of the UK’s National Pandemic Flu Service. The bulletin notes that the UK’s “travel insurance industry has...
Reinsurers See ‘No Major Losses’ from Flu Pandemic
Jun 12 2009 // Big European reinsurers said on Friday that they still expected no major losses from an influenza outbreak that the World Health Organization (WHO) this week declared the first flu pandemic of the 21st Century. “The...
WHO Official Says World Edging Towards Flu Pandemic
Jun 3 2009 // The spread of H1N1 flu in Australia, Britain, Chile, Japan and Spain has nudged the world closer to a pandemic, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. The newly-discovered strain had caused more infections than...
New H1N1 Flu Virus Not Quite a Pandemic-Yet, Says WHO
May 12 2009 // The new H1N1 virus shows no signs of sustained person-to-person spread outside of North America and so has not yet tipped over into a pandemic, a top World Health Organization official said Monday. Dr. Keiji Fukuda, acting...
Buffett Criticizes Bank Stress Tests; Eyes Insurance for Flu Pandemic
May 4 2009 // Warren Buffett criticized the government’s stress tests of 19 large U.S. banks, and said he would buy more shares of three big banks in the portfolio of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Buffett also told reporters on...
Marsh Issues Risk and Insurance Analysis/Advice on Pandemic Flu
Apr 29 2009 // Marsh has issued an extensive bulletin, which outlines the risk and insurance implications for businesses arising from the possible pandemic of the “Swine” or “Mexican” flu. The bulletin noted that...
Top 5 Steps for Employers to Take to Prepare for Flu Pandemic
Apr 28 2009 // Businesses and nonprofits are being urged to examine their ability to operate in the event of a flu pandemic. With the federal government declaring Swine Flu a public-health emergency, the Institute for Business &...
UK’s Chartered Insurance Institute Examines Industry Flu Pandemic Role
Mar 25 2009 // The latest of the UK’s Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) Thinkpiece articles – “Pandemics – be prepared” features the work of Trevor Maynard, Emerging Risks Manager at Lloyd’s, who...
States Make Progress But Still Unprepared for Pandemic, Says U.S.
Feb 22 2008 // In the first report of its kind, U.S. health officials said the nation’s states and cities made a strong effort to prepare for a flu pandemic, bioterrorism or other emergency health crises, but big challenges...
Munich Re Sets Up $1.5 Billion Pandemic Risk Cat Bond Facility
Feb 21 2008 // Munich Re announced the establishment of a bond program amounting to $1.5 billion for the transfer of extreme mortality risk to the capital markets. The placement marks the first time that Munich Re has set up a cat bond...
Businesses Must Prepare Now for Pandemic Outbreak
Dec 17 2007 // Pandemics are inevitable and businesses must prepare now by developing continuity plans in case of a flu outbreak, said Scott Mugno, managing director, corporate safety, health and fire protection at FedEx...
Okla. Lawmakers Examine State Preparations for Pandemic
Dec 4 2007 // Lawmakers in Oklahoma questioned whether the state would be prepared in the event of an influenza pandemic during a legislative study conducted by state Rep. Lee Denney. Lawmakers and other officials recently met at the...
Report: Pandemic Overdue, Nations Not Prepared
Sep 27 2007 // A new report issued by Marsh and The Albright Group, two risk experts, warns that the catastrophic impacts of a long-lasting pandemic are not only likely to happen, but overdue. The study also states the impact of a...
N.Y. Regulator Expects All Insurers at Pandemic Flu Exercise in Sept.
Aug 9 2007 // The New York State Insurance Department today said that it expects all insurance companies in the state to participate in an exercise next month to evaluate the readiness of the nation’s financial services to survive...
Study: Flu Pandemic Could Lead to U.S. Recession
Mar 23 2007 // A severe pandemic flu outbreak could result in the second-worst recession in the United States since World War II, with the gross domestic product dropping more than 5.5 percent, according to a report recently published by...
