ToplineA top FEMA official announced Friday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had disbursed more than $1 billion to pay for funerals of coronavirus victims. This comes as the United States faces yet another wave in infections and hospitalizations.A coffin is carried by cemetery workers during the burial in Porto Alegre of a coronavirus victim. AFP via Getty ImagesThe Key FactsMatthew Redding, FEMA's Deputy Director for Individual Assistance, told reporters that 150,000 people have been assisted by the program since its inception in April. The program allows applicants to be eligible for $9,000 for each coronavirus-dead person. There is a $35,000 limit per applicant for those who pay for funerals of more than one victim. Redding stated that it is the most costly funeral assistance program FEMA has ever offered, and that the previous programs paid out $11 million over the past ten. FEMA stated that applicants have a median income below $68,703 (the U.S. Census Bureau reported it in 2019). This program reimburses for funeral costs, including cremation, interment, caskets, urns burial plots and niches, markers, headstones, and other funeral costs, for U.S. citizens whose cause of death was listed as coronavirus.What to WatchFEMA spends more on funerals for coronavirus. The program will not be discontinued as new infections are increasing across the country. Redding stated Friday that FEMA still has 90,000. This money is from the Congress earlier this year, which passed the coronavirus relief Act.Big Number619,250. Johns Hopkins University says that this is how many Americans have died of coronavirus since its inception. The United States has the highest number of confirmed deaths worldwide.Continue readingFEMA Funeral Assistance for Covid Victims - $1 Billion (CNN).Live updates and coverage of the Coronavirus
