FRANKFORT, Ky.
(AP) — The number of Kentucky residents filing for unemployment benefits
stayed on a record-breaking pace last week, lifting the three-week
statewide total to more than 275,000 as the coronavirus pandemic causes widespread economic damage.

A
total of 117,135 Kentuckians filed unemployment claims last week, the
U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday. It was up by nearly 4,000
people from the prior week.

Nationwide, 16.8 million Americans filed for unemployment aid in the past three weeks.

Businesses
have closed or scaled back since the outbreak began in efforts to slow
the spread of the virus. Not even hospitals were immune from layoffs. In
western Kentucky, Jennie Stuart Health laid off 248 employees as it
deals with “unprecedented challenges and volume declines” as a result of
the pandemic, its president and CEO, Eric Lee, said in a release.

Like
elsewhere, Kentucky’s unemployment benefit enrollment system has been
overwhelmed by skyrocketing numbers of applicants. Kentucky dramatically
increased the number of employees handling unemployment insurance
claims.ADVERTISEMENT

Three
weeks ago, about a dozen people were handling calls from Kentuckians
seeking assistance. The goal is to ramp up staffing to about 1,000
workers or more by week’s end, Josh Benton, deputy secretary of the
state Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, said recently.

Gov.
Andy Beshear this week acknowledged the frustrations for suddenly
out-of-work Kentuckians as huge volumes of calls overload the system.

“We’re
going to do everything we can to get your approval and to get your
payments going as fast as we can,” he said. “And keep letting us know
when there are issues. It’s our job to fix them.”

Kentucky
has received federal funding to allow the state to begin distributing
an additional $600 per week for people receiving unemployment aid,
Beshear said Wednesday.

At
Jennie Stuart, the CEO said the Hopkinsville hospital has been hit by
declines in patient care volumes and surgical revenues since Beshear
asked Kentucky hospitals to cease elective procedures in mid-March
because of the pandemic.

“This
is an incredibly difficult time for our health system, and this is not a
decision we made lightly. I regret the immediate personal impact on
these employees and their families,” Lee said of the layoffs. “However,
we must reflect in our staffing how the current reality has changed the
resources needed to care for the dramatic shift in our volumes of
non-COVID-19 patients.”

The layoffs will not impede the hospital’s ability to care for people in the region, he said.

The
hospital hopes to recall the laid off workers, though the timing will
be based on its long-term recovery from the public health crisis.

Most
people who contract COVID-19 have mild or moderate symptoms, which can
include fever and cough but also milder cases of pneumonia, sometimes
requiring hospitalization. The risk of death is greater for older adults
and people with other health problems.

Source: Mountain Top