Did you know there is a reduction in staffing for the SSA office and that creating an application is becoming more difficult?

Also, applications are routinely denied upon first submission and then worked on as an appeal that can span years.

Ask me how I know, I have been assisting a friend with a disability (not COVID related) to get assistance for over a year now.

So either there are applications still being processed, in appeal, or people are frankly struggling to navigate the submission process, especially with fewer SSA employees to get assistance from.

How do those payments work? Are you allowed them if you're also working?

Separate question: I vaguely remember that everything else made COVID more likely to kill, so how many people already on disability were killed, proportionately speaking?

Based on how the rules for disability goes, this isn’t surprising at all.