So far 30,000 people in Arkansas have applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the new federal aid program for self-employed or gig economy workers who have been affected by covid-19, Commerce Secretary Mike Preston said Thursday.
The state’s system to apply went live earlier this month but hit a snag when a system error made supporting documents uploaded by 30% of those who signed up during a test period inaccessible.
The 5,673 applications are still active, but those seeking benefits must resubmit copies of the documents. Applications filed on or after May 6 aren't affected.
Preston said the state expects benefits to begin being paid out sometime next week.
With other state and federal unemployment benefits programs, Preston said Arkansans have received $357.9 million so far during the covid-19 pandemic.
Of that, $109 million came from the state’s unemployment benefits trust fund.
Preston said $778 million remains in the trust fund, which he said means the state is in a “good situation,” though it will continue to monitor the status of the fund as the pandemic continues.
3:02 p.m.: New covid-19 cases, hospitalizations tick up for 2nd day; gov says numbers give 'pause'
The number of new cases and hospitalizations due to covid-19 ticked up for the second day in a row Thursday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said, causing him to “pause” as he considers when the state will enter the second phase of its reopening.
There were 130 new cases reported since Hutchinson’s briefing on Wednesday. Department of Health Secretary Dr. Nate Smith said of the new cases, 17 were in correctional facilities and 113 were in the general population of Arkansas.
Hospitalizations increased by five to 69, Smith said.
“That causes you to pause and say, we’ve got to make sure that we remind everybody to be careful, not to take this for granted and not just assume we’ll be in phase two in 14 days,” Hutchinson said. “We have more work still to do.”
The case total rose to 4,366, and the death toll increased by one to 98.
Among the dead is Robert Todd Burmingham, the so-called “blue-light rapist,” who was accused of using flashing blue lights to pull over and attack female motorists. He died Wednesday while serving a life term at the Cummins Prison.
The number of active cases, in which a patient remains ill as opposed to recovered or deceased, was 928 Thursday, Smith said. Of those, 305 were in correctional facilities, 101 were in nursing homes and 522 in the general population.
The Department of Correction reported Wednesday that 45 inmates had been diagnosed at the Randall L. Williams Unit state prison in Pine Bluff and three more were considered presumptive positives.
Smith said all inmates in the building with the outbreak had been tested, but the Department of Health was expanding testing to other buildings at the prison.
Smith did not specify whether any of the 17 new cases in correctional facilities were new cases or were preexisting cases now counted in the total.
In the past Smith has said it is not uncommon for it to take a few days for positive reports to be added to the Department of Health's digital tracking system.
11:06 a.m.: Gov to speak on coronavirus response
Gov. Asa Hutchinson will speak at 1:30 p.m. on the state's response to the covid-19 pandemic.
Total cases according to the Arkansas Department of Health remained the same Thursday morning as Wednesday evening, 4,236. The death toll also remained the same, 97.
Check back to watch the live video.
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