NAS Insurance Services, a California provider of specialty insurance coverages, said Tuesday it will offer coverage against business losses suffered because of a government-ordered closure stemming from the Ebola virus.

“It is a new and emerging risk and therefore we had to create a new insurance product to address a very specific need,” said Jeremy Barnett, a senior vice president of marketing at NAS Insurance.

Barnett said many commercial liability policies exclude losses resulting from infectious outbreaks and that NAS, to his knowledge, is the first in the U.S. to cover business interruption losses specifically from the Ebola virus.

Hospitals, hotels, airports, shopping centers, restaurants, theaters, gyms and apartments are among the places most likely to get closed if someone on the premises tests positive for the deadly virus, the company said.

The policy won’t cover losses from voluntary closures, say by business owners who are afraid they might get infected or are losing money because fearful customers are staying home.

The coverages are being offered with Prospect Insurance Broker Ltd. and Ark Specialty Programs of Lloyd’s of London. Premiums will vary based on revenues and the number of locations.

Symptoms of the disease can take anywhere from two to 21 days to emerge after a person has been exposed, although most occur within 10 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The fatality rate in the current outbreak is about 50 percent, but the CDC said it remains confident the disease can be contained in the U.S.

Thomas Eric Duncan last month was the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States and a nurse, among 70 people who treated him in Dallas before he died, also has tested positive.

Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or twitter.com/aldosvaldi