A. As used in this section:
"Disaster" or "emergency" means a public health emergency related to the COVID-19 virus declared by the Governor pursuant to § 44-146.17 and set forth in Executive Order 51 (2020) on March 12, 2020.
§ 8.01-225.03.Certain immunity for certain hospices, home care organizations, private providers, assisted living facilities, and adult day centers during a disaster under specific circumstances.
Chapter 3. Actions · Article 21. Miscellaneous Provisions · Last amended 2024 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceSection 8.01-225.03 gives hospices, home care organizations, certain licensed behavioral health providers, assisted living facilities, and adult day centers immunity from civil liability for COVID-19-related injury or death caused by pandemic resource shortages, limited to causes of action arising between March 12, 2020, and the end of Virginia’s COVID-19 state of emergency.
Full Text of § 8.01-225.03
B. In the absence of gross negligence or willful misconduct, any (i) hospice licensed pursuant to § 32.1-162.3, (ii) home care organization licensed pursuant to § 32.1-162.9, (iii) private provider licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services pursuant to Article 2 (§ 37.2-403 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 37.2, (iv) assisted living facility licensed pursuant to § 63.2-1701, or (v) adult day center licensed pursuant to § 63.2-1701 that delivers care to or withholds care from a patient, resident, or person receiving services who is diagnosed as being or is believed to be infected with the COVID-19 virus shall not be liable for any injury or wrongful death of such patient, resident, or person receiving services arising from the delivery or withholding of care when the emergency and subsequent conditions caused by the emergency result in a lack of resources, attributable to the disaster, that render such hospice, home care organization, private provider licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, assisted living facility, or adult day center unable to provide the level or manner of care that otherwise would have been required in the absence of the emergency and that resulted in the injury or wrongful death at issue.
D. The immunity provided by this section shall only apply to causes of action arising between March 12, 2020, and such time as the declaration of a state of emergency related to the COVID-19 virus set forth in Executive Order 51 (2020) is no longer in effect.
Plain-English Summary
This section is a time-limited, pandemic-specific companion to the broader disaster-immunity sections that precede it. Subsection A defines the relevant emergency narrowly: the COVID-19 public health emergency the Governor declared under § 44-146.17 and set out in Executive Order 51 (2020), issued March 12, 2020.
Subsection B extends immunity to five categories of licensed care entities — hospices, home care organizations, providers licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, assisted living facilities, and adult day centers — for injury or wrongful death of a patient, resident, or person receiving services who was diagnosed with or believed to have COVID-19, when the pandemic-driven resource shortage forced the entity to deliver a lower level of care than would otherwise be required. As with the general disaster-immunity sections, the protection is unavailable where the entity’s conduct amounted to gross negligence or willful misconduct.
Subsection C confirms the immunity supplements other available protections, including § 8.01-225 and Virginia’s Emergency Services and Disaster Law. Subsection D is what makes this section distinct from its general-purpose counterparts: it applies only to causes of action arising between March 12, 2020, and the date the COVID-19 state-of-emergency declaration under Executive Order 51 ceased to be in effect, a fixed historical window rather than an ongoing protection for future pandemics.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which types of facilities does this section protect?
Hospices, home care organizations, providers licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, assisted living facilities, and adult day centers.
Does this immunity apply to future pandemics or emergencies?
No. Subsection D limits it to causes of action arising between March 12, 2020, and the date Virginia’s COVID-19 state-of-emergency declaration under Executive Order 51 (2020) ended — it does not extend automatically to any later public health emergency.
What kind of harm does this section cover?
Injury or wrongful death of a patient, resident, or person receiving services who was diagnosed with, or believed to have, COVID-19, resulting from the covered entity delivering or withholding care because the pandemic caused a resource shortage.
Is a facility protected if it was grossly negligent in its COVID-19 response?
No. As with the general disaster-immunity sections, gross negligence and willful misconduct fall outside the immunity.
How does this section relate to §§ 8.01-225.01 and 8.01-225.02?
Those sections provide general, ongoing immunity for health care providers during any declared disaster; this section provides a parallel but narrower and time-bound immunity specifically for COVID-19, covering entities like assisted living facilities that are not necessarily “health care providers” under the general sections.
Amendment History
2020, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 6, 7; 2024, cc. 37, 150.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
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