A sign announces that stores at the Tanger Outlets in Hershey, Pa., are closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Gov. Tom Wolf ordered most retail stores in the state to close in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus. (Kate Landis / PA Post)
Kate Landis / PA Post
Kate Landis / PA Post
A sign announces that stores at the Tanger Outlets in Hershey, Pa., are closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Gov. Tom Wolf ordered most retail stores in the state to close in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus. (Kate Landis / PA Post)
Kate Landis / PA Post
A sign announces that stores at the Tanger Outlets in Hershey, Pa., are closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Gov. Tom Wolf ordered most retail stores in the state to close in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus. (Kate Landis / PA Post)
More than 1.5 million Pennsylvanians have filed for unemployment since early March, more than any other state but California. That translates to 23 percent of the commonwealth’s workforce having submitted claims, the fifth-highest share in the nation, according to the latest numbers from the U.S. Department of Labor.
Those numbers don’t include gig workers and self-proprietors in most states, pending states rolling out new filing systems to accommodate those classes of workers. Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor and Industry launched its web portal for self-employed workers last weekend. Users reported several issues with the system, including an inability to complete the process if they indicated receiving a W-2. That problem has been fixed, according to the L&I website.
In the interim, some self-employed workers turned to Small Business Administration programs. But the $349 billion Congress authorized for the first round of funding ran out quickly. This story from WPSU’s Min Xian explains how some independent enterprises in Pa. are surviving as they await round two (Congress authorized another $310 billion on Thursday).
One Pennsylvanian who’d been having major problems filing for unemployment finally started receiving benefits. Lancaster County resident Jim Redcay told me that his unemployment payment posted to the account linked to his state-issued card early yesterday morning, more than a month after he first tried to file. You can listen to the initial story here.
Redcay is a woodworker who’s been employed by the same contractor for decades. In fact, a larger share of Pennsylvanians (more than a quarter) who’ve filed for unemployment in the past month or so work in the construction industry than any other, according to the latest L&I data.
They’re also set to be among the first back on the job, with Gov. Tom Wolf’s announcement Wednesday that all construction can resume May 1. Some projects barely stopped, resuming after getting a waiver (a process that remains murky as state officials decline to release a list of which businesses got waivers or say when they might do so, PA Post’s Ed Mahon reports).
About 5.5 percent of Pa. claimants work in the hospitality industry. That’s midrange among business sectors statewide, but varies widely depending on where you are in the state (at least double that percentage in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, for example).
Also, many hospitality workers depend heavily on tips, so their unemployment benefits normally don’t come as close to their typical income as those in other industries. With all that in mind, the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association has launched a relief fund that you can read about — or support — here. —Emily Previti
Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, File
Milwaukee voters casting ballots during Wisconsin’s primary election April 7. (Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, File)
The Allegheny County Council already authorized sending mail-in ballot applications to every registered voter. Those applications will come with prepaid return postage, and the county is adding staff to process the expected surge of applications.
Now, officials there are seeking a waiver from the Department of State to drastically reduce its number of polling places for the June 2 primary — to 15 percent of the normal number. State law limits the reduction to 40 percent, one of several temporary rules enacted a month ago meant to give counties the flexibility to address coronavirus-caused reductions in polling locations and available election workers.
The actions in Allegheny are as close to going all mail as a county can get in Pa. at the moment, though the entire state would shift to voting by mail by November under a proposal introduced this week by state Sen. Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny).
Some county officials have noted it took other states years to convert to all-mail voting, which they says is a good reason why they don’t support transitioning the entire state to vote-by-mail in time for the June 2 primary. Voting rights advocates also expressed concerns about potential disenfranchisement to PennLive’s Ivey DeJesus.
Nearly 20 other Pennsylvania election directors outside Allegheny County believe all-mail voting is the way to go, however.
Related: The Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans and Priorities USA (a super PAC supporting likely Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden) filed a lawsuit this week asking the courts to compel the state to cover postage for all absentee and mail-in ballots, The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Tamari reports.
And over in our new Opinions section, PA Post editor Russ Walker says based on his experience living in Washington state, Pennsylvania needs to embrace voting by mail. Read his piece here.
Coronavirus stories from around the state:
The state’s cumulative COVID-19 death toll appeared to drop by 200 on Thursday. That’s because, as The Morning Call explains, health officials decided to begin including presumed cases (instead of only confirmed) in the count last weekend. They said they did it to better adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. But Pa. coroners objected, noting the presumed cases could take months to confirm. As a result, the Department of Health reverted to their prior tracking method, which means only deaths caused by complications from confirmed (by testing) cases of coronavirus are included in the state’s count. Spotlight PA also covered the change.
A day after Gov. Tom Wolf unveiled his approach to reopening the state’s economy, Pennsylvania’s GOP senator released his own. According to U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey’s plan, the Post-Gazette reports, “Allegheny, Westmoreland and Indiana counties could begin opening businesses in phases as soon as Monday, as officials have seen a downward trend of new COVID-19 positive cases consistent with the 14-day decline federal health officials are looking for.” Read the plan here.
The AARP is calling on Pennsylvania to release a list of more than 400 nursing homes where residents have died due to complications from the coronavirus. Several other states have released the information; however, Pa. officials have declined, citing concerns about confusing the public and violating privacy laws, Spotlight PA reports.
The University of Pennsylvania has started training volunteers to do selective contact tracing (i.e. tracking down every person who a coronavirus-positive patient came in contact with during the incubation period) in Philadelphia. Right now, the city’s daily case count is growing at more than 10 times the optimal rate for tracing staff to keep up. That’s partly why Penn researchers are targeting certain populations — such as those that live or work in high contact settings — with their initial efforts, WHYY’s Nina Feldman reports.
Carlisle School District already faced a budget shortfall before the pandemic. Now the district’s projected deficit has more than tripled, thanks to the fallout from the pandemic. School officials are basing their expectations on slashed earned-income tax revenue and reduced property tax payments due to business closures, The Carlisle Sentinel reports.
Penn State announced Thursday the university will slash salaries in half for some staffers and might lay off others in an effort to offset $260 million in losses linked to the coronavirus. PSU officials say they’ll use $55 million in federal CARES Act funding for student financial aid and to assist workers who lose their jobs or see their salaries cut, The Centre Daily Times reports.
Sheetz is now offering delivery from select locations throughout Pennsylvania, as the Altoona Mirror details here. The gas and convenience store chain recently launched an app meant to encourage social distancing, and it established seniors-only store hours at all locations.
Coronavirus must reads:
The New York Times: The untold story of the birth of social distancing
Vox: Covid-19 immunity — antibodies, serological tests, reinfection, and immunological memory — explained.
Boston Globe: Elizabeth Warren’s brother dies of coronavirus
Kaiser Health News: Abbott’s Fast COVID Test Poses Safety Issues, Lab Workers Say
New York Times: 1 in 5 New Yorkers May Have Had Covid-19, Antibody Tests Suggest
Washington Post: Melania Trump, a most private first lady, finds her voice in a stay-at-home pandemic
