'No One Asked For This': Pandemic Unemployment Highest In Months

ACROSS AMERICA — The coronavirus hasn't just ended lives — it has ended people's livelihoods, too.

The most recent surge of cases across the United States has led to a jump in unemployment claims. Some 853,000 Americans filed for unemployment a week ago, The Associated Press reported, the most in a week in three months.

Montrell McGraw of New Orleans hasn't worked since March, when he lost his job as a hotel cook due to a pandemic-related shutdown. He told the AP recently he has applied for 35 jobs since then, without any luck.

Few restaurants are hiring, he said.

Some who are struggling through the pandemic have seen help through good deeds.

A pair of mothers who were behind on rent were recently gifted $13,000 from music superstar Taylor Swift, so they can avoid evictions, Billboard reported.

But for most others, like McGraw, making tough financial cuts is the only way to go.

McGraw has had to cancel his car insurance, and has still struggled to pay his bills since the extra $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit ran out in July.

"I didn't ask for this — no one asked for this pandemic," he told the AP. "I am trying to play the cards I am dealt with, and I have a really bad hand."

The Latest

As Americans head into the weekend, the Food and Drug Administration said it “will rapidly work toward” emergency authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, a decision that would kick off an unprecedented effort to stop a rampaging pandemic.

Friday's statement by the FDA came hours after a panel voted 17-4 in favor of recommending approval of the vaccine. Pfizer has said its clinical trials show the vaccine is about 95 percent effective.

Reports say emergency authorization could come as early as Saturday. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has already been approved for use in the United Kingdom and Canada.

The latest on the vaccine comes while more than 107,000 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and a day after states reported a record 3,347 single-day deaths

As the country awaits the vaccine's approval, the United States is likely to surpass 300,000 pandemic-related deaths soon.

The vaccine development comes as cases and deaths due to coronavirus continue to skyrocket across the states. On Wednesday, the nation recorded more than 3,000 coronavirus deaths for the first time ever. The number grew to more than 3,300 on Thursday.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said we shouldn't expect the number of daily deaths to drop anytime soon.

In fact, Redfield on Thursday said the country could see more than 3,000 deaths per day for the next two to three months.

Meanwhile, strict new limits continue to be implemented to help slow the virus's spread.

In Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam issued an updated stay-at-home order Thursday mandating that residents remain in their homes between midnight and 5 a.m. unless commuting to or from work, obtaining food and goods, or seeking medical attention. The state also updated its mask mandate to meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

Hospitalizations due to the virus have reached an all-time high — and now there is public data that can help Americans see how full the hospitals are near them. A "look-up tool" was released by NPR this week that is searchable by county.

Some of the nation's largest hospitals have reported having fewer than 15 percent of intensive care beds available as of last week, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services as cited by The New York Times.

The virus has also struck a big name in the entertainment world this week. Comedian Ellen DeGeneres said Thursday she has tested positive. She said she is not experiencing any symptoms.

Newest Numbers

At least 3,347 new coronavirus deaths and more than 219,544 new daily cases were reported in the United States on Thursday, according to a Washington Post database. Over the past seven days, the United States has averaged more than 209,300 cases each day.

As of Friday, 47 states and Puerto Rico remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

More than 15.6 million people in the United States had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Friday morning, and more than 292,300 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or Washington Post.

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