The coronavirus pandemic has halted our daily living. Many of us find ourselves in quarantine or isolation, faced with uncertainty. Still, there are still essential employees who face high-risk exposure to COVID-19 every day. First responders and healthcare professionals are some of these high-risk workers. There are many unanswered questions about coronavirus, but for employees who are still working, one question that’s at the top of the list is: if you contract coronavirus at work, is it covered by workers’ comp?
The coronavirus is a gray area under some current workers’ comp laws and it varies state by state. For the most part, “diseases of life” such as the common cold or seasonal flu are not covered by workers’ comp laws. However, the coronavirus is not a normal disease of life. COVID-19 is a specific and identifiable illness caused by the novel coronavirus strain medically known as SARS-CoV-2. In some states like Missouri, this means COVID-19 could qualify as an “occupational disease” and be covered by work comp.
Still, with the current laws and unknown factors surrounding the disease, it could be difficult to make your COVID-19 claim eligible. Under Missouri’s workers’ comp laws, an employee would have to prove they contracted the disease from that their exposure at work. Even as a first responder, this could be challenging.
Fortunately, Missouri recently announced that state first responders would automatically be eligible for workers’ comp if they fall ill with COVID-19 due to high-risk exposure at work on the front lines. Any first responder who falls ill with COVID-19 will have presumably contracted it at work. This announcement was made during a state briefing on April 7. This new rule goes into effect April 17, but it will still be applied to claims filed before that date. This is excellent news to all first responders such as police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and other emergency service workers. Their job requires direct contact with multiple people throughout the day, and as such puts the employee at high-risk for COVID-19 exposure. Without this amendment, it would have been much harder for employees to pinpoint the source of their coronavirus contraction. Other states have extended that “presumption” to other high risk workers, including health care workers, grocery workers, and some child care workers.
If you are a first responder who thinks they have contracted coronavirus and/or fell ill with COVID-19 due to work-related circumstances, you should file a workers’ comp claim as soon as possible. There is a 30 day written notice requirement to report your work-related injury, and there are specific deadlines to file an occupational disease claim, so call us today for a free consultation. We do not charge any fees unless and until we recover for you.
If you work in a different field and find yourself or a loved-one ill with COVID-19 due to work-related reasons, check out our other blog post on coronavirus and workers’ comp to see how you may be covered and eligible for a claim.
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The Hines & Wilson Law Firm has more than 50 years of experience with workers’ compensation claims. We will use our experience and knowledge to get you the compensation you deserve. If you’ve been injured at work or think you have carpal tunnel syndrome, call us at (573) 443-4500, our toll-free number (877) 473-4500, or email info@hineswilsonlaw.com for a free and confidential consultation about your claim. If you wait too long, you may lose your right to compensation.
