Fla. Dental Practice’s COVID-19 Losses Not Insured, Federal Judge Rules

MIAMI — A Florida federal judge has tossed a dental practice’s COVID-19 business interruption coverage action, ruling that the complaint failed to allege a “direct physical loss” or “physical harm” to covered property.

In a Nov. 1 order, Judge Beth Bloom of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida held that purely economic losses caused by COVID- 19 business closures or suspensions do not constitute a “direct physical loss” or “physical harm.”

The judge further ruled that the practice’s losses fall under the policy’s virus exclusion because they arise from the COVID-19 pandemic itself, not related government …