COVID-19 Not ‘Pollutant’ as Defined by Policy, Fla. Federal Judge Rules

MIAMI — A Florida federal judge has dismissed a shopping center owner’s COVID-19 coverage action, ruling that the COVID-19 virus is not a covered “pollutant” within the meaning of the policy, issued by Great American D&S Insurance Company Inc.

In a May 21 order, Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Miami explained that COVID-19 is not a “biological agent” that was “deliberately released, discharged, or dispersed by a party other than an Insured with the intent to cause injury to persons or property.”

Andrew D. Gumberg owns and operates Coral Ridge …