“It was kind of a shock,” Darline Buchanan, who works at a local fitness center, said of the moment she learned she had been furloughed.

Employees across the country – from waiters in its many restaurants to fitness instructors like Buchanan – have experienced the shock of losing their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting closure of nonessential businesses. As of May 7, 33.5 million people across the country had filed initial unemployment claims.

As of the Times’ print deadline, Alexandria residents had filed 10,609 initial unemployment claims, according to the Virginia Employment Commission. Initial claims began pouring in throughout mid-March, climbing from 33 the week of March 14 to 797 the week of March 21.

The city’s number of initial unemployment claims hit a peak the week of April 4 – 2,578 claims – before decreasing incrementally, as residents received their unemployment benefits on a continued basis.

Regionally, in March there were a total of 110,690 unemployment claims across Northern Virginia, accounting for 7.89 percent of the total workforce in the region, according to a NOVA Community College study.

“It’s absolutely heartbreaking. You know in every one of those … [cases] there is usually two or three other lives impacted, families,” Mayor Justin Wilson said. “And so, the broader impact and misery that is created as a result of this is staggering.”

Although some industries, such as hospitality, food service and fitness, have been impacted more than others, the economic impact of the virus has spared few.

Buchanan was furloughed on April 1, and since then, she has been offering virtual fitness sessions free of charge via Facebook Live. Her only income is through the unemployment benefits she now receives.

Virginia’s unemployment benefits typically max out at $380 per week, but, due to the sheer number of people dealing with unemployment, the federal government is now paying an additional $600 per week to the unemployed. The federal government also expanded the pool of those who qualify for unemployment benefits to gig workers, i.e. Uber drivers, and contractors.

All told, Buchanan is making about as much as she would be normally, factoring in fewer trips to the gas station and other expense reductions due to the stay-at-home order, she said.

But Buchanan would still much rather be at the gym, working a full shift, contrary to what many critics of unemployment benefits are arguing, Buchanan said.

“If the gyms were allowed to open on the 15th, I will not be hanging out waiting to say, ‘Well, you know I’m getting the same amount of money. I might as well just sit at home.’ No, I want to get back to work,” Buchanan said.

(Read more: Alexandria receives $13.9 million in CARES funding)

Buchanan said she is aware that, in many ways, she’s one of the lucky ones. She is single, her children are adults and can care for themselves and she is successfully receiving unemployment benefits. Other furloughed workers, such as Buchanan’s daughter, she said, have only received a portion of their benefits payment.

Others, particularly the city’s Hispanic workers and those who are recent immi- grants, are afraid to even apply for unemployment.

“I have employees who are permanent workers. They have visas and green cards, and they are so afraid to go get unemployment because they’re afraid the government is going to come and get them,” Elizabeth Myllenbeck, chief executive officer of Sonoma Cellar, said. “… For me, I’m aware as a white person that that’s an issue, but that fear is real. It’s absolutely deep and real, and they live in that fear every day.”

For those who suddenly found themselves out of work, there were a lot of questions and very few answers. Many were able to find their way to the Virginia Employment Commission, but many more looked for help at the local level.

“On the one hand, [the pandemic] significantly increased the demand for services because, from the job seekers side, while we are not [the Virginia Employment Commission], people who are trying to file for unemployment have been coming to us, calling us, walking to the office,” Daniel Mekibib, director of the Alexandria Workforce Development Center, said.

Within the past few weeks, the center has received between 800 and 900 calls, about 60 to 70 calls per day, from people looking for help in applying for unemployment, Mekibib said.

The WDC generally refers those questions to the VEC, but the sheer number of calls reveals a deeper lack of awareness – and lack of communication – of the options for the city’s host of furloughed workers.

“Part of the challenge here is that residents and businesses don’t completely understand all of the things that are available for them,” Wilson said.

The WDC sends a list of new job openings to its listserv and has a comprehensive list of new opportunities on its website. The center hosted a virtual job fair on Wednesday where job seekers could meet employers in the area via private video chat sessions and is consistently offering online lessons to help in the remote job interview process.