North Dakota extends comp to coronavirus

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed an executive order Wednesday that extends worker compensation coverage to first responders and health care providers who contract coronavirus on the job. The order covers an estimated 80,000 workers in the state.

The executive order provides up to 14 days of medical and wage replacement benefits for first responders and health care workers who are quarantined. If workers test positive for coronavirus and it is determined that they contracted the virus on the job, those employees are then eligible for full worker compensation benefits.

The coverage is retroactive to begin March 13, 2020 — the date that the governor declared a state of emergency in North Dakota due to coronavirus.

The state’s workers compensation law is not structured to provide benefits for first responders or health care workers who are instructed to quarantine before a test can confirm transmission, said the governor’s office in a statement, and prior to this order, the law did not cover the acquisition of viruses like coronavirus as a compensable illness.

More insurance and risk management news on the coronavirus crisis here.