By The Post-Journal

editorial@post-journal.com

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Chautauqua County remain unchanged at 27.

In the daily update, officials with the county Department of Health and Human Services said Monday there were two active cases, with 36 county residents either in quarantine or isolation. To date, 22 people have fully recovered, while three deaths have been attributed to the virus.

In Cattaraugus County, one new confirmed case of the virus was reported, bringing the total there to 30, and the first new case in three days. The county Health Department said 166 county residents were in mandatory quarantine, up just two from Sunday.

Of the 564 tests administered to date, 497 have come back negative.

Meanwhile, the New York state Department of Labor on Monday announced the launch of a new application for New Yorkers to apply for traditional unemployment insurance or the new COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. State residents were previously required to apply for regular unemployment and be rejected before applying for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

With the new application, which aligns with updated federal policy, state residents will be able to simply fill out one form to get the correct benefits.

In conjunction, the state Labor Department has been deploying more than 3,100 representatives solely dedicated to answering unemployment benefit needs seven days a week. This is up from 400 who previously manned the call center prior to the pandemic.

Since the COVID-19 crisis began, the state Labor Department has paid approximately $2.2 billion in unemployment insurance benefits to 1.1 million state residents. The application call backlog prior to April 8 has been reduced to 4,305 from 275,000.

“I have been unemployed before myself, and I understand the pain, fear and anxiety New Yorkers are facing. The DOL’s mission is to help our neighbors through some of their toughest days, and in the last week we have made great strides in updating our systems,” said Roberta Reardon, state Labor Department commissioner. “While it appears the coronavirus pandemic is beginning to stabilize — at least from the public health perspective — we know that many New Yorkers are still facing an uncertain economic future, and the Department of Labor will continue to dedicate every resource available to helping New Yorkers weather this storm.”

The updated unemployment benefits application system will determine which unemployment program — unemployment insurance or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance — New Yorkers should apply for and then prompt them to answer a specific set of questions. The application builds on the new online system the department rolled out April 10 in partnership with the state Office of Information Technology Services and Google Cloud, to help manage the exponential and unprecedented increase in new claims resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.