The US short-term unemployment numbers are way up, because the US didn't do enough to help small businesses weather the storm, so they laid off their workforce. In contrast the EU supported their businesses and workers and consequently people are taking leave instead of unemployment.
[1] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/millions-of-lost-jobs-may-...
In any case my comment was about the meaning of having severance in contrast to having a job, not about crisis handling.