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April 8, 2020

Floridians Left Unemployed by Pandemic Crowd Public Spaces Seeking Benefits
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In Florida, hundreds of people queued in long lines Tuesday to receive
paper applications for unemployment benefits, after an online portal
crashed and customer service representatives were mostly unreachable by
phone. At one site in a Miami suburb, TV channel WPLG captured chaotic
scenes of people packed tightly together, jostling to push to the front
of the line to receive an application. More than a half-million
Floridians have filed for unemployment benefits since March 15. Florida
confirmed nearly 1,000 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday and reported 13 new
deaths from the disease, bringing the state's official death toll to
nearly 300.


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