DWC: COVID-19 Claims Drove 24% Increase in Frequency

The Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation on Thursday reported that an influx of claims for COVID-19 resulted in frequency increasing in 2020 compared to 2019. “Although COVID-19 caused a brief shutdown for some jobs and moved others to remote work, the total number of workers’ compensation claims reported to DWC in 2020 was about 24% higher than in 2019,” according to a report from the division’s Research and Evaluation Group. “The increase in COVID-19 occupational disease claims reported so far in 2020 has temporarily interrupted a 20-year trend in Texa...