Coronavirus updates: “Unimaginable human tragedy” at nursing homes

State officials said Thursday that 1.4 million New Yorkers are collecting unemployment insurance, totaling $2.2 billion that the state has already paid to workers as a result of the coronavirus.  

Stay-at-home orders have put millions of Americans out of work, forcing them to apply for unemployment insurance. The Great Depression-levels of unemployment have inundated state offices, causing backlogs across the country.

According to Melissa DeRosa, Secretary to Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York has paid out far more than any other state. 

“To give you a reference point, California has done $975 million, Texas $400 million, Florida $143 million, Pennsylvania $600 million,” she said at the governor’s daily press briefing Thursday. 

Despite New York’s unprecedented pay-out, residents are still reporting difficulty while trying to apply for and collect unemployment. 

DeRosa said the majority of the backlog is due to the PUA, the CAREs Act Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. PUA is intended to help workers not traditionally covered by unemployment, such as those who are self-employed, as well as gig and contract workers. 

The PUA was not put into effect until March 27, according to DeRosa, putting those workers at a disadvantage. “The feds then put guidance out that said you had to apply for unemployment insurance, get rejected, and then apply for pandemic unemployment insurance,” she said. “Which was a complete disaster.”

According to DeRosa, New York has now streamlined the process so those workers only have to apply for unemployment insurance one time, and has “put 3,000 people on this issue.” 

Cuomo said “the number of people who have gotten assistance is mind-boggling,” but added that “none of that matters.” “For a person there’s only one check that matters, and that’s their check, and I get that,” he said.