With the rise of the coronavirus once again, the Tampa Bay Area is seeing serious, record-breaking new daily cases. According to the Tampa Bay Times, on Tuesday, June 30th, the Tampa Bay Area has recorded 958 additional cases, which is about 16 percent of the state total reported for that day. These are outstanding numbers, considering Florida’s coronavirus statistics were looking positive just a few weeks ago.
You may be wondering about the legal consequences of getting someone sick if you have the coronavirus, or you may be wondering if you are entitled to damages if you believe someone gave you the coronavirus. It may not be as simple as filing suit against a person with the coronavirus that you think may have given you the coronavirus.
There are many hurdles in a personal injury suit that factor in for your chances of either getting sued, or recovering damages. Most personal injury claims are based on a theory called negligence, meaning that the potential defendant had a duty and that they breached that duty and that the breach was the cause to the eventual damages. Unlike a car accident claim or slip-and-fall, it may be hard to establish causation, or connectivity between the misconduct (giving someone the coronavirus) and the plaintiff’s harm (contracting the coronavirus). Fear of contracting the virus from someone who has the coronavirus is not enough to justify a personal injury claim. Establishing liability would mean that the person who has the coronavirus passed the virus onto you. With coronavirus on the rise in the Tampa Bay Area, it is nearly impossible to determine who has actually passed the virus on to someone else.
If you believe that you may have a personal injury claim because of the coronavirus, reach out to us at (813)-540-4615. You may also click this link to submit an inquiry!