Coronavirus & Contracts: How the Coronavirus May Trigger Force Majeure — While the world scrambles to understand how to contain the rapidly spreading Coronavirus, lawyers are trying to understand the legal ramifications of the interruption of daily activities. Since its initial introduction to the world in the early days of 2020, COVID-19 (the “Coronavirus”) has made its way to approximately 100 countries in the span of a few months. The rapid spread of the Coronavirus has caused global mass panic leading to the closure of schools, cancellation of large events, suspension of foreign entry into countries, market downturns, and supply shortages. As the number of people infected with the Coronavirus grows, the legal field is increasingly facing challenges of its own. One of those far reaching challenges concerns the obligations of parties to a contract—particularly with regard to the enforceability of force majeure clauses. Lawyers often draft force majeure clauses into contracts allowing parties to relieve themselves of their obligations—or to modify their obligations—when unforeseeable circumstances beyond their control arise and make performance of their obligation impossible. This begs the question: does the recent outbreak and rapid spread of the Coronavirus trigger force majeure clauses? The answer: it depends.

中文翻译：

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冠状病毒和合同：冠状病毒如何触发不可抗力。

冠状病毒和合同：冠状病毒如何引发不可抗力—当世界争先恐后地了解如何遏制迅速传播的冠状病毒时，律师们正试图了解日常活动中断的法律后果。自2020年初期将COVID-19（“冠状病毒”）首次引入世界以来，它在短短几个月内已遍及约100个国家。冠状病毒的迅速传播引起了全球性的大规模恐慌，导致学校关闭，大型活动取消，外国进入该国的暂停进入，市场低迷以及供应短缺。随着被冠状病毒感染的人数增加，法律领域正日益面临自身的挑战。这些深远的挑战之一涉及合同各方的义务，尤其是不可抗力条款的可执行性。律师经常在合同中起草不可抗力条款，使当事方无法控制的不可预见情况出现并使其无法履行义务时，各方可以解除其义务或修改其义务。这就引出了一个问题：最近爆发的冠状病毒和迅速传播是否触发了不可抗力条款？答案：这取决于。律师经常在合同中起草不可抗力条款，使当事方无法控制的不可预见情况出现并使其无法履行义务时，各方可以解除其义务或修改其义务。这就引出了一个问题：最近爆发的冠状病毒和迅速传播是否触发了不可抗力条款？答案：这取决于。律师经常在合同中起草不可抗力条款，使当事方无法控制的不可预见情况出现并使其无法履行义务时，各方可以解除其义务或修改其义务。这就引出了一个问题：最近爆发的冠状病毒和迅速传播是否触发了不可抗力条款？答案：这取决于。