Business interruption insurance and liability issues remain on the front burners as governments begin gradually “reopening the economy” amid scary new projections about the pandemic.

Trump Says Task Force Will Wind Down (The New York Times, May 5, 2020)

Pennsylvania’s Coronavirus Death Toll More Than Tripled in New Projection (Lehigh Valley Live, May 5, 2020)

Models Project Sharp Rise in Deaths as States Reopen (The New York Times, May 4, 2020)

D.C. Business Interruption Insurance Move on Hold

A measure that would make it easier for small businesses in Washington, D.C. to claim coronavirus-related damages under business interruption insurance policies is on hold after six of the 12 D.C. Council members raised concerns about its legality and the costs it could impose on insurers.

Council Chairman Phil Mendelson struck the language from a broader pandemic emergency bill to allow for more debate. Councilman Charles Allen had spearheaded the measure after many small businesses have seen their insurers deny such claims.

The American Property Casualty Insurance Association estimates local businesses could claim losses of hundreds of millions of dollars each month.

“These numbers dwarf the premiums for all relevant commercial property risks in the key insurance lines for D.C., which are estimated at $16 million a month,” David Sampson, the association’s president and CEO, wrote in a statement. “We oppose constitutionally flawed legislation that retroactively rewrites insurance contracts and threatens the stability of the sector, to the detriment of all policyholders.”

Lloyd’s Syndicate Slams ‘Direct Physical Loss’ Claim in COVID Suit (Business Insurance, May 6, 2020)

Coalition Proposes Recovery Fund to Help Businesses During COVID-19 (Property/Casualty 360, May 5, 2020)

A.M. Best: BI Insurers Face ‘Existential Threat’ if Forced to Cover COVID-19 (Best’s Insurance News & Analysis, May 5, 2020)

Utah Governor Signs Bill Shielding Businesses, Property Owners from Coronavirus-Related Suits (The Salt Lake Tribune, May 4, 2020)

Managing Risk as Businesses Reopen After COVID-19 (Property/Casualty 360, May 4, 2020)

U.K. Companies to Shun Business Interruption Insurance (Financial Times, May 3, 2020)

Care Homes Seek Shield From Lawsuits

Faced with 20,000 coronavirus deaths and counting, the nation’s nursing homes are pushing back against a potential flood of lawsuits with a sweeping lobbying effort to get states to grant them emergency protection from claims of inadequate care.

The Associated Press reports that at least 15 states have enacted laws or governors’ orders that explicitly or apparently provide nursing homes and long-term care facilities some protection from lawsuits arising from the crisis. And in the case of New York, which leads the nation in deaths in such facilities, a lobbying group wrote the first draft of a measure that apparently makes it the only state with specific protection from both civil lawsuits and criminal prosecution.

Feds Consider Relaxing Infection Control in U.S. Nursing Homes (USA Today, May 5, 2020)

1,700 More Nursing Home Deaths From COVID-19 Now Reported in New York (CNY Central, May 5, 2020)

The Grim Post-COVID-19 Future for Nursing Homes (Forbes, May 4, 2020)

Data Shows Reach of COVID-19 in Illinois Nursing Homes: At Least 286 Deaths (Chicago Tribune, April 19, 2020)