Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has visited profound consequences upon virtually every area of American life, including the tort system. Although the ‘tidal wave’¹ of tort claims that some predicted at the outset of the pandemic has not yet arrived,² the novel coronavirus already has generated a storm surge of legislative activity on the subject of tort reform. As of this writing, four states—Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Utah—have enacted laws providing businesses with sweeping protection against tort liability for coronavirus exposures.³ Several others have passed narrower measures to limit the liability of health care providers or to shield manufacturers and distributors of personal protective equipment from product liability claims.⁴ All in all, more than one hundred bills to expand or restrict tort liability had been introduced in state legislatures by the beginning of August.⁵ Congress, for its part, remains deadlocked⁶ over a Senate Republican proposal to exempt businesses from liability for coronavirus exposures except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct.⁷

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COVID-19商业责任的公共卫生框架

2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）已对美国生活的几乎每个领域（包括侵权行为系统）产生了深远的影响。虽然“潮汐”¹项侵权指控声称，在大流行开始时就已经有人预测到了一些，²新型冠状病毒已经在侵权改革的主题上掀起了立法活动的风暴。撰写本文时，爱荷华州，路易斯安那州，北卡罗来纳州和犹他州这四个州已颁布法律，为企业提供全面保护，使其免受冠状病毒暴露所造成的侵权责任。³其他几项措施已采取更狭窄的措施，以限制医疗保健提供者的责任或保护个人防护设备的制造商和分销商免受产品责任索赔的侵害。⁴到8月初，州立法机关总共提出了一百多个扩大或限制侵权责任的法案。^5就国会而言，它仍然陷入僵局一项针对参议院共和党提议的免除企业因冠状病毒暴露而承担的责任的提案（第^6条），除非出现重大过失或故意不当行为。⁷