Miami, April 9 (RHC)-- In the U.S. state of Florida, hundreds of people queued in long lines to receive paper applications for unemployment benefits, after an online portal crashed and customer service representatives were mostly unreachable by phone. 

At one site in a Miami suburb, TV channel WPLG captured chaotic scenes of people packed tightly together, jostling to push to the front of the line to receive an application. 

More than a half-million Floridians have filed for unemployment benefits since March 15th.  Florida confirmed nearly 1,000 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday and reported 13 new deaths from the disease, bringing the state’s official death toll to nearly 300.