Today’s update discusses:

• drop in unemployment claims
• Missouri National Guard's anticipated help with St. Louis County coroner

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

• At the end of last week, Missouri saw a significant drop in initial unemployment claims filed, sitting at 59,271. Although the number of claims is still significantly higher than claims made, for example, at the beginning of the year, they are down from the high 104,230 initial claims made the last week in March and even the high 101,722 initial claims the week prior.

RESOURCES

• The Missouri National Guard, in a news release this week, stated it was currently working with the St. Louis County coroner to help staff an emergency morgue that has been established to accept bodies if a spike in COVID-19 occurs and the county morgue becomes overwhelmed. As of Wednesday, the state saw a reported 208 deaths, with a 184-case increase on Thursday.