Latest COVID-19 Headlines
All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Space Explorers Should Beware of Viruses From Outer Space: Opinion
May 26 2020 // This summer, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will launch a rover designed to collect samples of the Martian surface and store them until they can eventually be brought back to Earth. When they arrive,...
Kansas Legislature Passes Bill Barring COVID-19 Lawsuits
May 25 2020 // Republicans pushed a sweeping coronavirus measure through the GOP-controlled Kansas Legislature on May 22, aiming to shield businesses and health care providers from coronavirus-related lawsuits and take control of the...
What’s a Life Worth? America Weighs Costs, Benefits of Social Distancing
May 25 2020 // We are becoming a nation of amateur actuaries, calculating the risk of restarting our lives. Can we go outside? Can we go back to work? Can we go to a restaurant or bar? Can we go to the beach? Can our children go back to...
French Court Orders AXA to Pay Restaurant’s COVID-19 Business Interruption Losses; AXA Vows to Appeal
May 22 2020 // A Paris court ruled that insurer AXA must pay a restaurant owner two months’ worth of coronavirus-related revenue losses, the restaurateur’s lawyer said on Friday, potentially opening the door to a wave of...
AIR Worldwide Estimates Global COVID-19 Deaths Could Reach 644,000 During June
May 22 2020 // The number of COVID-19 cases globally over the next four weeks may reach 50 million total cases, with 644,000 estimated deaths, according to estimates provided by Verisk’s catastrophe modeling unit, AIR Worldwide, on...
Pacific Hurricane Forecast Complicated by Coronavirus
May 22 2020 // The Central Pacific basin including Hawaii should expect to see between two and six tropical storms or hurricanes this year, federal forecasters said this week. The annual National Weather Service prediction came as wary...
Insurers, Agents Propose Pandemic Business Relief Plan; Plaintiffs Offer BIG Compromise
May 22 2020 // Key segments of the property/casualty insurance industry, which is facing mounting claims for business interruption losses from the pandemic, have thrown their lobbying weight behind a proposed federal program to replace...
Federal Coronavirus Business Interruption Suits Now Top 100; Many More Expected
May 22 2020 // A federal court has received notice that 101 lawsuits have been filed as of Wednesday seeking coverage from insurers for business interruption losses caused by COVID-19. Plaintiffs attorneys say they expect the number to...
Possible Virus Exposure Shut Louisiana OMV Office the Day it Reopened
May 21 2020 // Coronavirus fears closed a Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles location near New Orleans the same morning that it reopened after a two-month pandemic closure. The office in Harvey was notified that someone in the building...
COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps Proving Not Much of a Help Thus Far
May 21 2020 // Harnessing today’s technology to fight the coronavirus pandemic is turning out to be more complicated than it first appeared. The first U.S. states that rolled out smartphone apps for tracing the contacts of COVID-19...
Update: Generali 1st Quarter Net Profit Plunges 84.8% on COVID-19 Investment Hit
May 21 2020 // Generali’s first quarter net profit plunged 84.8% to €113 million (US$124 million) from €744 million (US$815.5 million) reported in Q1 2019, as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial...
When UK Insurers, Banks Emerge from Lockdown, Their Employees Face New Normal
May 21 2020 // Limits on elevators, thermal imaging and temperature checks will greet a first wave of traders and bankers in Britain preparing to return to offices under new norms to tackle the coronavirus. Britain’s financial...
New York Dusts Off 1918 Pandemic Playbook For Help in Making Subway Safer
May 21 2020 // As in 1918, New York may use staggered work hours to keep subway safe As New York City makes plans to reopen in the coming months, officials are dusting off the playbook from the 1918 flu pandemic, when businesses were...
UK’s Aviva Expects COVID-19-Related Claims of Nearly $200 Million
May 21 2020 // British insurer Aviva expects 160 million pounds ($195 million) in claims related to the coronavirus pandemic and weaker second quarter sales, it said on Thursday, as government lockdowns aimed at containing the virus hit...
Roads Are Emptier But Riskier During Coronavirus Quarantine. Fatality Rate Up 14%.
May 21 2020 // As Americans have been driving less and covering fewer miles, the emptier roads have become more lethal. Preliminary data from the National Safety Council indicate a year-over-year 14% jump in fatality rates per miles...
States Sharing of COVID-19 Patients’ Data With First Responders Sparks Privacy Concern
May 21 2020 // More than 11 million people have been tested in the U.S. for COVID-19, all with the assurance that their private medical information would remain protected and undisclosed. Yet, public officials in at least two-thirds of...
OSHA Vows More Work Safety Inspections for Coronavirus as Businesses Reopen
May 21 2020 // The U.S. Labor Department will expand inspections of businesses to reduce job-site hazards related to the new coronavirus as employees begin returning to work across the country, although the policy falls short of demands...
MGM, Caesars, Boyd in Vegas to Participate in COVID-19 Testing Plan
May 20 2020 // The Las Vegas gaming industry will offer COVID-19 tests to employees before they return to work, the Culinary Union announced Tuesday, moving the hard-hit sector a step closer to reopening. MGM Resorts International,...
For Third Point Re, COVID-19 Crisis Hurts, but It Celebrates 1st Underwriting Profit
May 20 2020 // Third Point Re reported a net loss of $183.6 million for the first quarter of 2020 due to COVID-19-related investment volatility – but the company still had big reasons to celebrate. For the first time since its...
North Carolina Revises Workers’ Comp Premium Rules Related to COVID-19
May 20 2020 // Two new rule revisions to the North Carolina Basic Manual for Workers Compensation and Employers Liability (NC Basic Manual) related to the COVID-19 pandemic have been approved by the North Carolina Department of...
