In Florida, hundreds are being forced to break social distancing and line up for unemployment assistance after a website crashed

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In Florida, hundreds are being forced to break social distancing and line up for unemployment assistance after a website crashed
Florida unemployment

NBC News

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Footage from a local NBC News affiliate shows hundreds queueing for unemployment assistance near Miami.

  • In Florida, local TV news footage showed hundreds queueing for unemployment insurance papers after a website for filing online applications broke.
  • The footage shows some trying to adhere to social distancing rules, and others ignoring them.
  • There has been a huge surge in unemployment assistance applications in Florida as the coronavirus crisis hammers the economy.
  • Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced measures to boost the state's capacity to handle online applications.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Hundreds of people in Florida are having to break social distancing rules and join long queues to claim unemployment assistance because the website for filing online applications broke, according to local media reports.

In footage broadcast by a local NBC affiliate, in Hialeah, just north of Florida, hundreds were pictured in a snaking line to collect paper unemployment forms.

The forms are the first step towards drawing on a system which will eventaully lead to financial support.

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Some appear to be attempting to observe social distancing rules - wearing face masks and maintaining a two-meter distance from others. But some are stood close to each other, and are not wearing masks.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis on Monday said that the state was boosting its capacity to handle the surge in online unemployment applications, and was recruiting extra staff to process them.

According to WEARTV, more than 520,000 people in Florida applied for unemployment assistance in March, more in just one month than the 326,000 who applied over the whole of 2019.

Some senior Republicans told Politico last week that the state's problems handling the applications are the results of Florida Sen. Rick Scott's $77 million scheme to overhaul the state's online systems.

They said the overhaul was designed to make it more difficult for people to claim assistance online, and thereby drive down application numbers.

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Scott's office told the publication that the change was designed to ensure the state helped only those "who truly needed the assistance."

On Twitter, angry Floridians shared images of the error message they got when trying to file.

Florida was relatively slow to impose strong anti-coronavirus measures, with DeSantis announcing a lockdown only last week.

This is despite Florida being projected to be among the states hit hardest by the virus, with its large proportion of ageing residents, as well as a substantial retail and hospitality sector, which will suffer worse than most from a lockdown.

Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Please email covidtips@businessinsider.com and tell us your story.

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