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Insurers don’t necessarily believe COVID-19 — the infection’s official name — is a particularly lethal bug, they’re just unsure about its true nature as a health hazard, says insurance broker Lorne Marr, who put together the report.

“It’s not that they think it’s a horrible thing. It’s not like you have terminal cancer,” said Marr, director of new business for LSM Insurance. “It’s definitely around the uncertainty … Insurance is about compiling and analyzing data, and there’s still very, very limited data.”

Insurance companies contacted by the National Post Thursday either could not be reached or declined to comment.

As of Thursday, the World Health Organization says there have been 75,748 confirmed coronavirus cases, with 2121 deaths tied to the illness. That makes for a mortality rate of 2.8 per cent, much higher than the seasonal flu’s ratio of about 0.2 per cent, but less than the nearly 10 per cent death rate for SARS and 35 per cent for MERS. However, some experts believe the actual number of people infected by COVID-19 is several-fold higher than the lab-confirmed cases, meaning the death rate could be closer to that of influenza.

The Canadian market for potential insurance customers suffering from the new coronavirus is tiny so far, with just eight confirmed cases in Canada, as well as 43 Canadians infected while passengers on a cruise ship now docked in Japan.

It's not like you have terminal cancer

But those numbers could rise if, as some experts speculate, the pathogen is not contained and it spreads in a way similar to seasonal flu. People have already submitted questions to LSM’s website asking about the issue, said Marr.