(Image source from: wsws.org)

Amidst the Covid-19 outbreak, United States has experienced the worst hit by it. The country has reported over 1 million infected cases and has over 59,000 confirmed deaths.

Following that, the country has also witnessed over 6 million people losing their jobs. Aside from Covid-19, unemployment is also a red alarm at the moment. Just this Tuesday, the food banks near LA and Pennsylvania witnessed hundreds of Americans driving in to get some supplies.

This doesn’t come off as a surprise as millions of Americans have had to lose their jobs amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Los Angeles, which is considered one of the wealthiest cities in the US is not witnessing people struggling to make ends meet.

Several photos revealed cars lining up along one of the deserted basketball courts and football fields around the Ruben Salazar High School.

Things took a worse hit when an aerial shot of community pool, which is occupied most of the times, was found deserted. People around it flocked to line up in front of the food banks to stock up on some foods to feed their families.

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank handed out gallons of milk to the people on Tuesday through the car windows.

To further avoid risks for the volunteers, they also held up signs to let the people know that they have to open their trunks so the volunteers can keep the food inside.

The residents around are experiencing the wrath of the pandemic, while expecting an overall of over 3000 families barreling in to collect their food on a daily basis.

The Big Butler Fairgrounds in Prospect expected over 1500 cars to collect the food every Tuesday.

With the businesses shut down and the economy at a standstill, unemployment has skyrocketed, leaving people in a constant turmoil of finding ways to keep themselves afloat during this time of crisis.

Over 26.5 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits since March 21, which is just a mere 16% of the American workforce. The economists have even warned that the likelihood of the unemployment is likely going to cross 20% as well, which is the highest rate since the Great Depression in 1930.

Just in California alone, over 3.2 million people have filed for unemployment claims since March 15.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced that some of the workplaces, schools and childcares can gradually reopen without any further constraints but there needs to be multiple protocols and further contact tracing that needs to be done.

Several of the stated have already eased the restrictions but Newsom has been stringent and strict with his lockdown orders.

He further outlined the process that the state is going to take when it comes to reopening and said that the state is months but a few weeks away from being eased with the restrictions.

While the overall rate of infection in California is going down gradually, things in the Los Angeles county has been hard hit. According to the official count, LA has crossed 20,000 confirmed cases and has reported over 1000 deaths. This makes up for half of the confirmed cases and deaths reported in the city.

Pennsylvania, on the other hand, also has a stay-at-home order in place till April 30 according to the executive order. The state has recorded over 43,000 confirmed cases and over 1700 deaths.

By Somapika Dutta