Today’s update discusses:

• beginning a COVID-19 testing study
• decrease in unemployment claims
• expanded unemployment eligibility

HEALTH

• Indiana is planning to test a broad swath of residents for COVID-19 and its antibodies. This study is meant to gauge the true reach of the illness across the state. Random testing is to begin on Saturday, led by the Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The state is hoping that this study will be a critical step toward understanding how COVID-19 has affected the population, giving Indiana a leg up on other states in the country on understanding the virus’s true trajectory and beginning to identify and address disparities.

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

• The Indiana Department of Workforce Development reported a decrease in the state’s unemployment claims for last week. At the end of last week, the State of Indiana reported 75,483 unemployment claims, a decrease from each of the three weeks prior in which the claims reported were all over 100,000. From April 1 to April 21, the state processed more than $470 million in unemployment payments. Beginning today, the unemployment system will start taking claims from those who couldn’t obtain unemployment before, such as those with limited work history or those who are self-employed.