Stanford Law Professor George Triantis said the 1990 ruling would probably not apply to businesses claiming coverage for closures caused by the virus, or the threat of a virus.

“We’re not talking about the interpretation of property damage (as the insurable event) but rather either an employee getting sick or a government ordering a lockdown,” he said. Because the central issue will be whether the shutdown order was covered by insurance, Triantis said, “this opinion on the interpretation of property damage is of little help, and it is going to turn on the language of the policies.”