COVID-19 comp claims rise in California

As of Aug. 10, there were 9,515 COVID-19 workers compensation claims reported for July, bringing the total for the year to 31,612 claims, or 10.2% of all California job injury claims in 2020, the California Workers’ Compensation Institute reported Tuesday.

Updated figures for May and June show increases in COVID-19 claims for each of those months, as the number of COVID-19 claims with June injury dates more than doubled from 4,438 claims as of July 6 to 10,528 claims as of Aug. 10, while COVID-19 claims with May injury dates rose from 3,889 cases to 4,606 claims. That increase of 18.4% indicates a “time lag in the filing, reporting, and recording of many COVID-19 claims,” Oakland, California-based CWCI said in an analysis.

In July, the claims included 140 deaths, up from 66 reported as of July 6, according to CWCI.

The CWCI projects there could ultimately be 29,354 COVID-19 claims with July injury dates and 56,082 COVID-19 claims with January through July injury dates, according to a statement.

Health care workers continue to account for the largest share of California’s COVID-19 claims, filing 38.7% of the claims recorded for the first seven months of this year, followed by public safety/government workers, who accounted for 15.8% of COVID-19 claims.

Rounding out the top 5 industries based on COVID-19 claim volume were retail trade (7.9%), manufacturing (7.0%) and transportation (4.7%), according to the analysis.

More insurance and workers compensation news on the coronavirus crisis here.