MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Thousands of Alabamians are filing for unemployment benefits, sometimes overwhelming the state application system, as the coronavirus pandemic causes workplaces to temporarily close or reduce operations.
Nearly 17,000 people filed unemployment claims over just two days — Sunday and Monday– according to preliminary numbers given by Alabama Department of Labor spokeswoman Tara Hutchison.
Health officials have acknowledged the economic cost of mandatory closures, but say they’re crucial to slow the outbreak as caseloads grow exponentially, threatening to overwhelm hospitals. People can be contagious without showing symptoms and spend days infecting others before falling ill.
“I want to be very clear. This is a matter of life and death,” Jefferson County Health Officer Mark Wilson said Sunday in announcing the closures of non-essential businesses in that county.
Despite this, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey said she was following the lead of President Donald Trump, and expressed reluctance on Tuesday to join other governors in issuing a statewide order shutting down non-essential activities.