Unemployment in Florida has spiked at a higher rate than any other state in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. As Florida’s beleaguered unemployment system buckles, elected officials show varying levels of optimism about whether problems will subside before the pandemic draws to a close.

The Department of Economic Opportunity reports that more than 505,000 Floridians submitted new claims for unemployment. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday said more than 267,000 individuals have received payments since the crisis began in early March, but that leaves hundreds of thousands in waiting.

A total of 26.5 million have lost their jobs nationwide since the pandemic began impacting the U.S., according to a survey by WalletHub, and Florida has seen the worst spike in claims. Unemployment claims in Florida have increased 8,456% compared to 2019. Meanwhile, claims in April jumped 10,838% compared to January, and 3,951% since just last month.

State Rep. Margaret Good, D-Sarasota, this week also called out the fact that 38,000 small businesses in Florida applied for emergency bridge loans but only 1,000 got money through that program. “The ones who don’t are the mom-and-pops who have 10 employees,” she said.

Delays in state unemployment promoted Good this week to send a letter to the Department of Labor asking for the federal government to personally intervene and make sure $600 in weekly support approved with the CARES Act gets to Floridians.

DeSantis, meanwhile, has taken DEO Director Ken Lawson off the job of administering unemployment and put Management Services Secretary Jonathan Satter in charge if the process. He’s also directed 2,200 state workers from other departments to the DEO to help process claims.

State Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, felt optimistic things will get better. With family directly impacted by the problems with the unemployment system, Gruters has highly criticized the shortcomings.

“The state system has failed many Floridians in their time of need,” he said. “I am glad that Gov. DeSantis is transforming the system and has made it so everyone will get their benefits retroactively to when they initially lost their job.”