More than 109,000 people filed for unemployment benefits in Maryland last week, the state's labor department said Thursday.
The numbers released by the state’s labor department on Thursday are the highest number of claims in Maryland in a week’s time since the coronavirus outbreak forced many businesses to shutter. The previous high was about 108,000 in the week ending April 4.
Last week's number rose as a federal stimulus package extended unemployment benefits to gig workers and the self-employed. Last week's numbers in Maryland were raised by 44,280 additional claims under the change. More than 490,000 people have filed for unemployment in Maryland in the last seven weeks.
Nearly 3.2 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week nationwide. Roughly 33.5 million people have filed for jobless claims in the United States in the seven weeks since the coronavirus started forcing millions of companies to close their doors.
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Meanwhile, the state reported that there have been at least 29,374 cases of the virus in Maryland, in increase of 1,211 from the previous day. The state has confirmed 1,401 deaths. That's 63 more deaths than the state reported Wednesday. Maryland also reported that there have been 119,226 negative tests, and there are 1,683 people who are currently hospitalized, 24 fewer than Wednesday.
Coronavirus deaths related to nursing homes make up more than half of the confirmed virus deaths in the state. There have been a total of 793 resident deaths in nursing homes due to the virus, and 11 staff members have died.
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The state also announced that a third prison inmate has died from the coronavirus. The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said the inmate was in his 60s and had underlying medical conditions. He had been living at Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown prior to being hospitalized in late April.
As of Monday, Maryland's prison system had 244 cases of the coronavirus, including 171 officers, 61 inmates and 12 non-uniformed staff. The department has an incarcerated population of approximately 20,000.
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