PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee extended the stay-at-home order until May 4 and said projections show more than 1000 people will die in the state from COVID-19.
The governor made those announcements in a 5 p.m. briefing with other state leaders about their efforts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
Washington Secretary of Health Dr. John Wiesman, State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy and Vice Admiral Dr. Raquel Bono, the director for COVID-19 Health System Response Management joined Inslee at the press conference.
Inslee said there are no new directives in this order, just an extension of the stay-at-home order he issued a few weeks ago.
People can still go for walks, runs and bike rides outside if they maintain a 6-foot distance from others.
As of 11:59 p.m. April 1, 2020, Washington reported 6585 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 262 deaths. Overall, there have been 79,418 tests given, with 8.3% of them positive.
Their remarks come on the day another report of record-setting unemployment claims in the state.
According to the Employment Security Department, new claims for unemployment benefits catapult to a record of 181,975 during the week of March 22. That is a 3,513% increase from last year, and a 41% increase since the previous week.
According to ESD, including the ongoing weekly claims that were filed, the department saw around 350,000 claims come into its claims center over the last week. ESD says this is seven times the peak week during the 2008/2009 recession — when they saw 26,075 weekly claims.