Latest COVID-19 Headlines
All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Amazon Sued by Colorado Warehouse Workers Over COVID-19 Screening Pay
Oct 7 2021 // Amazon.com Inc. has been accused of violating Colorado state law by failing to pay warehouse workers for time spent undergoing COVID-19 screenings before clocking in at work. Jennifer Vincenzetti, who worked at two Amazon...
S. Africa Insurer Santam Loses Appeal in COVID-19 Business Income Case With Hotelier
Oct 7 2021 // JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal has ruled Santam is liable to cover the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on hotel group Ma-Afrika for 18 months, rejecting the insurer’s request for a...
Biden Administration Releases Guidance for COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate and Exemptions
Oct 6 2021 // With just weeks remaining before federal workers must be vaccinated against COVID-19, the federal government has outlined procedures for employees to request medical or religious exemptions from President Joe Biden’s...
California Orders 3 Insurers to Give Refunds for Those Who Drove Less During Pandemic
Oct 6 2021 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Wednesday directed three auto insurance companies to reimburse California drivers the excess premiums they were charged from the start of the pandemic, or face legal...
6th Circuit Reverses Finding That COVID Orders Caused Direct Physical Loss
Oct 5 2021 // A federal appellate court reversed a rare policyholder win in a COVID-19 related business-interruption claim, once again holding that government orders that restrict the use of a property do not constitute a “direct...
North Carolina Suit Could Signal Change in COVID Claims Disputes
Oct 5 2021 // Since the pandemic began, most of the COVID-19-related business interruption disputes have not gone in favor of the policyholders, especially in federal court. More than 90% of motions to dismiss in federal lawsuits, in...
Why Some Hospital Workers Choose Dismissal Over COVID Vaccine
Oct 4 2021 // Jennifer Bridges loved her job as a nurse at Houston Methodist Hospital, where she worked for eight years, but she chose to get fired rather than inoculated against COVID-19, believing that the vaccine was more of a threat...
‘Once Traffic Goes Away, People Speed.’ Study Analyzes Pandemic’s Fatal Crashes.
Sep 29 2021 // With fewer people on the road during the early days of the pandemic, more drivers were speeding and driving recklessly, resulting in more crashes being deadly. Researchers at The Ohio State University conducted a detailed...
Climate Change Ranks as Top Concern for Insurers, Replacing Pandemic
Sep 29 2021 // Climate change has returned to the top of the list of insurers’ biggest concerns as the vaccine roll-out and gradual lifting of health restrictions see pandemic fears ease in many countries. Global warming was ranked...
COVID-Related Discrimination Lawsuits Filed Against 2 Texas Companies
Sep 28 2021 // Federal officials filed two lawsuits in Texas courts, alleging that a pharmacy in Fabens and a coffeehouse in Ft. Worth both discriminated against employees with disabilities that rendered them vulnerable to serious...
Smaller Delaware Businesses Find Ways to Survive Pandemic
Sep 28 2021 // Small businesses have faced big-time problems throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. And for many, it was no longer just about trying to get by. It was a matter of survival. Local small-business owners Rous and Angie Robles of...
U.S. Court Upholds Ohio Hospital Employee COVID-19 Vaccine Rule
Sep 27 2021 // A federal judge on Sept. 24 ruled that a Cincinnati, Ohio-area healthcare provider could require its employees get vaccinated against COVID-19 or risk losing their job, in what appears to be the first ruling of its kind...
Judge Clears Kansas City COVID Business Interruption Claim for Trial
Sep 24 2021 // A federal judge in Kansas City has cleared a restaurant group’s COVID-related business interruption claim for jury trial, finding that an 8th Circuit Court decision that found no coverage was owed in a separate case...
Mississippi Public Universities Cannot Require COVID-19 Vaccine
Sep 23 2021 // The board that governs Mississippi’s public universities has voted to prohibit schools from requiring COVID-19 vaccines for students and staff. The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning...
Religious Exemptions Grow as COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates Rise
Sep 23 2021 // An estimated 2,600 Los Angeles Police Department employees are citing religious objections to try to get out of the required COVID-19 vaccination. In Washington state, thousands of state workers are seeking similar...
New Zealand Raises Fines for People and Companies that Break COVID-19 Rules
Sep 22 2021 // WELLINGTON – New Zealand on Friday [Sept. 17] announced higher fines of up to NZ$12,000 ($8,400) for individuals breaching coronavirus restrictions amid concerns that the current outbreak may spread beyond Auckland to...
The Impact of COVID-19 on Contractors and the Construction Industry
Sep 20 2021 // The coronavirus pandemic forced most individuals and businesses to stand still for a moment in time, a pause that was challenging for many and cost jobs, income and growth. While many industries are transitioning back to...
States Curtail Public Health Powers for This Pandemic and Future Diseases
Sep 16 2021 // Republican legislators in more than half of U.S. states, spurred on by voters angry about lockdowns and mask mandates, are taking away the powers that state and local officials use to protect the public against infectious...
UK COVID-19 Business Insurance Payouts Top One Billion Pounds
Sep 16 2021 // Small companies in Britain, which demanded that their insurers cover claims for losses accrued during the COVID-19 pandemic, have received more than one billion pounds ($1.4 billion) in full and interim business...
Settlement Sets Up Panel for Hawaii Prisons During Pandemic
Sep 14 2021 // A U.S. judge has given preliminary approval to a settlement in a lawsuit by Hawaii inmates who allege state officials mishandled the pandemic and failed to protect them from COVID-19 outbreaks in prisons and jails. In a...
