Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly speaks at a COVID-19 briefing on Thursday, April 23, 2020.

After weeks of delay, the Kansas Department of Labor is now able to process claims for an extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits generated from federal coronavirus stimulus packages, Gov. Laura Kelly announced.

As a result, the department on Thursday will process over $3.4 million in extra benefits claims.

The news comes as much-needed relief for thousands of Kansas struggling to make ends meet amid the global pandemic. New data from the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday showed 31,920 Kansans filed initial unemployment claims last week, 2,047 more than the week prior.

The delay in fulfilling claims, Kelly said, was due to an error in the department’s processing system — and is one that other states around the country have also faced.

“This is welcome news for unemployed Kansans who need assistance immediately,” Kelly said.

In addition, Kelly and department secretary Delía García are working on a temporary regulation to prioritize workers compensation claims for emergency responders and health care workers across the state.

“We have made progress in a variety of ways needed to help many Kansans,” Kelly said.

The program allowing for additional unemployment benefits went into effect on March 29 and will run through July 25. Anyone who is eligible for the program — meaning they qualify for at least $1 in unemployment benefits — will automatically receive the additional $600 per week.

García clarified that the department will also be retroactively paying out the additional benefits for the weeks the system wasn’t processing claims. No application is required beyond the normal weekly unemployment claim, she said.

Kansas on Thursday saw its biggest single-day increase of new COVID-19 cases, with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment confirming 271 new cases of the respiratory virus. Kansas’ cumulative total now sits at 2,482 cases.

Kelly guessed the increase was due to some commercial labs around the state not properly reporting their results to KDHE, but she couldn’t be sure without talking to Dr. Lee Norman, the department’s secretary. Norman appears at Kelly’s briefings on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The state death toll from COVID-19 increased by two overnight, and the virus has now claimed the lives of 112 Kansans. There are currently 442 hospitalizations from the virus, out of 2,007 cases where data is available — a hospitalization rate of 22%.

Kansas is still working to increase its testing capacity, and has now tested 21,318 people for the virus. Roughly 11% of those tested are positive for COVID-19, but Kelly said Kansas was still “nowhere near” where it needed to be in terms of testing capacity and getting necessary supplies.

“It’s probably been my biggest frustration of this,” she said. “And we were just told today not to go through FEMA (for supply requests), but to the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).”

Kansas has had among the lowest testing rates of any state, 7.32 per 1,000 residents as of Thursday.

Meanwhile, KDHE is planning to train existing state workers and bring on volunteers to have 400 people to help trace infected people’s contacts. But the department said Thursday it is still recruiting and training them.

— The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Kansas

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