One argument that insurers are making in resisting coverage under their property insurance policies for losses associated with COVID-19 is that there is no permanent loss or damage to property. They note that SARS-CoV-2 remains in the air only a few hours and on surfaces for no more than a few days. They argue that there is no coverage for such “temporary” events.
A new peer-reviewed article regarding the duration of SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces undercuts insurer arguments about just how “temporary” SARS-CoV-2 is. The article reports that the virus can remain on surfaces for considerably longer than previously thought:
“The data presented in this study demonstrates that infectious SARS-CoV-2 can be recovered from non-porous surfaces for at least 28 days at ambient temperature and humidity (20 °C [68 °F] and 50% RH). Increasing the temperature while maintaining humidity drastically reduced the survivability of the virus to as little as 24 h at 40 °C [104 °F]. The persistence of SARS-CoV-2 demonstrated in this study is pertinent to the public health and transport sectors. This data should be considered in strategies designed to mitigate the risk of fomite transmission during the current pandemic response.”
Shane Riddell, Sarah Goldie, Andrew Hill, Debbie Eagles, & Trevor W. Drew, The effect of temperature on persistence of SARS-CoV-2 on common surfaces, 17 Virology J., Art. No. 145 (2020), https://virologyj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12985-020-01418-7.
Given that an individual with no symptoms can spread SARS-CoV-2 simply by breathing or talking, and that droplets containing SARS-CoV-2 can land on surfaces, the presence and risk posed by SARS-CoV-2 are substantially more than “temporary.” After all, unless the air and surfaces inside a building are thoroughly and effectively cleaned and no one enters a building for at least 28 days, the presence of SARS-CoV-2 is a very real and likely possibility, if not probability. In fact, every time someone enters a building, so, too, could SARS-CoV-2, only to linger for another 28 or more days. For insurance purposes, this should qualify as “direct loss or damage” to property because of the initial and continuous presence of SARS-CoV-2 and the fact that the use or function of the property undoubtedly is substantially impaired.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiU2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmxleG9sb2d5LmNvbS9saWJyYXJ5L2RldGFpbC5hc3B4P2c9OGU0ZmEwZmMtNTI3OC00MWFlLWI0NTItMTEzZjcwMDhkNDZm0gEA?oc=5
2020-10-14 13:00:55Z
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