Virus Exclusion Bars Coverage for N.J. Gym’s COVID-19 Losses, Judge Rules

CAMDEN, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge has dismissed a gym’s COVID-19 business interruption action, ruling that the losses fall squarely within the policy’s virus exclusion, which applies to “loss or damage caused by or resulting from any virus that induces or is capable of inducing physical distress, illness or disease.”

In a March 10 order, Judge Renee Marie Bumb of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey found the exclusion unambiguously applies to the gym’s alleged physical loss or damage because it was forced to shut down in compliance with government closure orders issued …