Since early in 2020, the United States has been battling COVID, SARS-CoV-19, in what was seemingly a never-ending story of death and destruction. A huge number of businesses went under and the economy plummeted to historical lows. Even now, more than 18 months later, some businesses are still trying to collect on Business Interruption claims filed many months ago.
Many insurers are still denying legitimate claims against policies that were in effect for years. Many small business owners have yet to collect, and as a result, they are in need of Business Interruption Litigation, BIL, services to represent them in court. One team of Chicago based attorneys are handling record numbers of claims – to see how they handle them, click here.
Premature Optimism
It was only a year after the first known cases of COVID were identified in the US that the FDA approved Pfizer and Moderna vaccines on an experimental basis. In December of 2020 and January of 2021 doctors around the country began administering vaccinations. In early June of 2021 it looked like the vaccines were doing their job, just six months after the initial doses were administered. There was a huge drop in daily cases and on June 4, there was a 7-day average of only 11,915 positive cases. What was even more remarkable was the fact that there were 0 new positives reported that day!
For the first time in 18 months there were no new cases to be reported and thus began a glimmer of hope that the United States was truly on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, this optimism was to be short lived. It seemed as though the entire population thought this was the beginning of the end but as it turned out, it was a case of premature optimism.
No One Counted on the Delta Variant
The reason why so many major corporations, especially consumer facing businesses, fear for their economic recovery is due to the unprecedented surge of the Delta variant. With numbers much like those at the height of the first wave, the Delta variant is sending businesses spiraling downward once again. Scientists and epidemiologists say that the abovementioned false sense of complacency opened a backdoor through which Delta could enter. As a result of the large portion of the country not willing to continue following mandated precautions, the Delta variant is forecast to continue spreading out of control.
Dark Days Ahead
It seems as though the entire economy is getting hit from multiple directions. Travel restrictions are once again being tightened which is frustrating international travelers, also putting a damper on the tourist industry in general. The number of healthcare workers is on a rapid decline and now the eviction moratorium is coming to an end.
With businesses going under and an increasing number of workers now unemployed, the economy is taking a hit. Federal unemployment is also set to expire. All these things added up are the grounds upon which a bleak economic recovery is forecast. No one knows how long this latest surge will last, but most think it will not be in time to lift the economy out of the dumps before the holidays. That may be the worst news yet.