Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-CortezLawmakers fear voter backlash over failure to reach COVID-19 relief deal Why Democrats must confront extreme left wing incitement to violence The Hill Interview: Jerry Brown on climate disasters, COVID-19 and Biden's 'Rooseveltian moment' MORE (D-N.Y.) are asking for federal funds to help cover funeral costs for New Yorkers amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The New York Democrats wrote a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Pete Gaynor on Tuesday asking him to approve a request to activate the Individuals and Households Program (IHP), which would grant access to the Disaster Funeral Assistance program.

The funds would help New Yorkers cover expenses for caskets, mortuary services, death certificates and cremation or interment, the Democrats said.

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“As the tragic number of deaths from COVID-19 continues to rise in New York, individuals who are facing incredible loss are also being saddled with an additional financial burden,” Ocasio-Cortez and Schumer wrote, adding that it comes at a time of record unemployment.

A spokesperson for FEMA told The Hill "individual assistance is under review for New York."

The spokesperson said IHP Funeral Assistance is not currently approved under any COVID-19 individual assistance declarations.

The lawmakers stressed that the situation in New York is the worst in the country. The crisis is particularly hitting areas of Ocasio-Cortez’s district in Queens and the Bronx.

The neighborhood of Corona in Queens has the highest number of positive COVID-19 cases of any zip code in the country, according to the lawmakers.

“While we understand that granting New York access to the IHP may inspire other states to seek the same declaration, no other state has experienced such a severe and disproportionate impact from COVID-19 like New York,” the Democrats wrote.

“And so New York deserves special consideration from FEMA in granting additional categories of Individual Assistance, like the Individuals and Households Program,” they added.

New York officials reported more than 200,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday.