Latest COVID-19 Headlines
All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Virtual ‘Woodstock for Capitalists’ May Show How Buffett’s Handling Coronavirus
May 1 2020 // Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s annual meeting will be nothing like the extravaganzas of years past, but will give Warren Buffett a chance to show how resilient his cash-rich conglomerate may be to the coronavirus...
Non-Life Insurance Claims from Pandemic to Surpass 9/11 Claims: Willis Towers Watson
May 1 2020 // Insurance broker Willis Towers Watson on Friday estimated general insurance losses between $32 billion and $80 billion across key classes in the United States and UK from the novel coronavirus, surpassing claims from the...
Brexit Trade Talks Back on Agenda After COVID-19 Hiatus, Facing Tight Timetable
May 1 2020 // Banks are dusting off their no-deal Brexit plans as concerns deepen that Britain and the European Union won’t agree a trade deal by December as the COVID-19 pandemic compounds fundamental disagreements over future...
Allianz Withdraws 2020 Profit Target on Pandemic Uncertainties
May 1 2020 // Allianz SE withdrew its forecast for the year as Europe’s biggest insurer struggles with the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. Given the economic uncertainty, the board “does not assume that Allianz can...
States Under Pressure to Lift Coronavirus Restrictions as Unemployment Grows
May 1 2020 // As White House economic reopening guidance expired on Thursday after two weeks in place, half of all U.S. states forged ahead with easing restrictions on restaurants, retail and other businesses in hopes of reviving...
Trump Administration Defends Workplace Safety Record During Coronavirus Crisis
May 1 2020 // U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia on Thursday defended his department’s handling of workplace safety during the coronavirus pandemic, saying “the cop is on the beat” in response to union criticism about...
The Perilous Cannabis, Cyber, COVID-19 Connection
Apr 30 2020 // Cannabis, cyber and COVID-19 – the three Cs may have more in common than meets the eye. Cannabis dispensaries, now considered essential businesses in many states, have stepped up deliveries, curbside pickups and online...
New LWCC Foundation Commits $1.1M for COVID-19 Recovery in Louisiana
Apr 30 2020 // Baton Rouge-based Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp. (LWCC) has formed a private foundation to focus on the areas of health, wellness, and safety in the workplace. It’s leading initiative, Louisiana Well...
Florida CFO Says China Owes State Financial Restitution from COVID-19 Outbreak
Apr 30 2020 // Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis has sent a demand letter to Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai demanding financial restitution from the Communist Party of China (CPC) for...
Markel Estimates COVID-19 Losses of $325 Million
Apr 30 2020 // Diverging from strategies of some competitors, Markel Corp. established a big reserve for a chunk of its potential COVID-19 exposure for the entire year—putting up $325 million for direct potential losses. The holding...
Swiss Re Reports Q1 Loss of $225M as Impact of COVID-19 Crisis Begins to Hit
Apr 30 2020 // Reinsurer Swiss Re swung into a net loss in the first quarter of 2020 as the impact of the coronavirus outbreak began to bite, it said on Thursday. The Zurich-based company booked a hit of $476 million for anticipated and...
UK Regulator Probes Events Firms for Failure to Pay Refunds During COVID-19 Crisis
Apr 30 2020 // Britain’s competition regulator said it has opened investigations into thousands of complaints about companies refusing to pay refunds for canceled weddings and other events during the coronavirus pandemic. Britain...
Georgia Coronavirus Deaths Top 1,000 Amid Reopening Effort
Apr 30 2020 // Georgia officials reported Tuesday the coronavirus has killed more than 1,000 people statewide as some local officials urged people to continue isolating at home in spite of the governor’s aggressive efforts to...
Consumer Groups Oppose Immunity for Businesses From Coronavirus Lawsuits
Apr 30 2020 // U.S. consumer advocates are urging Congress to resist growing demands by companies for protections from coronavirus-related lawsuits as states start to ease pandemic restrictions and businesses begin to reopen. Led by...
Chicago-Area Nursing Home Workers Threaten Strike in Midst of Pandemic
Apr 29 2020 // Workers at 40 Chicago-area nursing homes announced they have set a May 8 strike date over wages as many of the facilities are treating patients suffering from the coronavirus. Members of the Service Employees International...
Recovered from COVID-19, Wary First Responders Back on Job
Apr 29 2020 // The new coronavirus doesn’t care about a blue uniform or a shiny badge. Police, firefighters, paramedics and corrections officers are just a 911 call away from contracting COVID-19 and spreading it. With N95 masks...
Hiscox Action Group Gears Up to Take Hiscox to Court over COVID-19 BI Exclusions
Apr 29 2020 // Angry Hiscox policyholders have formed an action group in the UK to fight Hiscox’s pandemic exclusions to its commercial business interruption policies. More than 300 UK policyholders have joined the Hiscox Action...
Federal, State Prosecutors Form Delaware COVID-19 Anti-Fraud Coalition
Apr 29 2020 // United States Attorney David C. Weiss and Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings have announced the formation of a new Coronavirus (COVID-19) Anti-Fraud Coalition, aimed at better protecting the citizens of Delaware...
New York AG Raises Concerns About Amazon’s Pandemic Safety Practices
Apr 29 2020 // Amazon.com Inc may have violated safety measures and labor practices amid the coronavirus pandemic as it fired a warehouse protest leader last month, New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office wrote in a letter...
Insurers Promote Federal Pandemic Insurance Plan to Congress
Apr 29 2020 // The U.S. insurance industry is promoting the idea of an insurance plan backed by the federal government that would help businesses that in the future suffer losses from a pandemic, people familiar with the effort told...
