Virus Exclusion Defeats Play It Again Sports Stores’ Bid for COVID-19 Coverage

CHICAGO — A virus exclusion bars seven Play It Again Sports franchises from coverage for business interruption losses they incurred due to government-ordered shutdowns arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, an Illinois federal judge has ruled.

In an Aug. 11 order, Judge Thomas M. Durkin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois found the exclusion in a policy issued by Nova Casualty Co. clearly applies to losses “caused directly or indirectly by any virus that induces or is capable of inducing physical distress, illness or disease.”

“The coronavirus is a ‘virus’ that is “capable of inducing physical …