Pritzker: 513,000 Unemployment Claims In March Alone

ILLINOIS — As the state announced more than 1,700 coronavirus cases and an additional 73 deaths — bringing Illinois' death toll to 794 — Gov. J.B. Pritzker addressed the financial impact of the disease.

Pritzker ordered all bars and restaurants closed to dine-in customers starting March 16, and a stay-at-home order closing all non-essential businesses took effect March 21. While helping slow the spread of coronavirus, the orders prompted some businesses to close indefinitely — or permanently — and lay off staff.

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Families are hurting "at a scale many of us haven’t seen in our lifetimes," Pritzker said, highlighting some of the things that are being done to speed up the unemployment filing process in Illinois.

Since March 1, the 173 employees at the Illinois Department of Employment Security have fielded more than 1 million calls. The IDES website has had more than 6.5 million sessions since March 1 and employees have worked a total of 6,500 additional hours beyond their typical work week to try to address claims as quickly as possible, Pritzker said.

In the five weeks from the beginning of March to April 4, IDES fielded more than 513,000 initial unemployment claims, which is 23,000 more than the total number of initial claims in all of 2019.

Over 200,000 New Illinois Unemployment Claims In Single Week

"We're not alone as states across the nation struggle to keep pace," he said, adding that "539 IDES employees bravely return to their physical workspace each day."

Pritzker said the IDES website has been upgraded to handle increased capacity, and call center hours have been expanded. Another outside call center is being established with an additional 200 employees in Illinois, and recently retired employees are being brought back to work for IDES. Retirees who are older and more vulnerable to coronavirus are being given laptops and allowed to work from home, Pritzker said.

"The challenges workers and families are facing today is something my whole administration thinks about each day as we are simultaneously attempting to fend off the health consequences of coronavirus," Pritzker said. "We are working around the clock at all levels to provide unemployment benefits to the unprecedented number of Illinoisans who have lost their jobs to the spread of COVID-19."

Meanwhile, the state's coronavirus case total now stands at 22,025.