Shutdown Orders Caused Insured’s Losses, Not Pandemic, Minnesota Panel Says, Reverses

( August 12, 2025, 2:19 PM EDT) -- ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota appeals panel on Aug. 11 reversed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a commercial property insurer in an insured’s coverage dispute arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, ruling that the governmental orders that shut down 150 of the insured’s health and fitness clubs in response to the pandemic are the causes of the insured’s losses for purposes of determining the number of occurrences subject to the policy’s “Interruption By Communicable Disease” coverage limit....