California’s 4th District Court of Appeal yesterday affirmed the demurrer in the Inns by the Sea case, ruling that Inns’ business interruption loss was caused by government shut down orders, not by the presence of the virus on the premises and, thus, there was no “direct physical loss of or damage to” the premises. Notably, the court cited to the Couch treatise whose accuracy has recently been called into question. The court declined to grant Inns the opportunity to amend its complaint, reasoning that any additional scientific information about the impact of COVID-19 on premises would not change the court’s view on causation.
