Does a COVID-19 diagnosis count as a workers comp injury? How about forced quarantine without positive test but forced to take time off....or positive test but asymptomatic and forced quarantine? With school starting back up, many school district employees are asking these questions.
I am handling several such cases right now. If you have a forced quarantine without positive test that's not going to be covered under workers' compensation but should be covered under CARES Act. Positive test compensation for time off could be covered under either.
Whether the facts show connection to work sufficient to accept liability is initially a decision for the adjuster which can be taken to a workers' comp hearing. Most COVID-19 cases aren't going to involve enough compensation to justify hearings/attorney representation.
What I have seen is when there is a definite exposure and temporal relationship of onset of symptoms AND a positive test, some cases are being covered by workers' compensation, but in the absence of those things it is going to be an uphill battle at best.
And unless it's a claim for death benefits, there's probably not going to be enough money in a workers' compensation case to hire an outside expert.
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