Inslee extends stay-home order, business closures through May 4

Gov. Jay Inslee is extending his order for Washington residents to stay at home and non-essential businesses to remain closed until at lease May 4.

“May 4th is absolutely the soonest we can achieve our ends to keep our loved ones safe,” he said at a press conference Thursday evening.

“We unfortunately have yet to see the full weight of this virus in our state. This order is not only justified, it is morally necessary. We are confident in our steps we have taken, but we cannot lose steam in the middle of this fight,” Inslee added.

Inslee said several times in recent days that the stay-at-home order and non-essential business closures likely would be extended. They would have expired at midnight April 6 and April 8, respectively. The extension of the orders will expire at 11:59 pm May 4.

The governor said since announcing the initial order on March 23, the number of COVID-19 deaths and confirmed cases roughly has doubled.

There have been more than 250 deaths in Washington and over 6,000 state residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, Inslee said.

Epidemiologists at the University of Washington have done modeling that predicts there will be more than 1,000 deaths in Washington from COVID-19 and more if social distancing — keeping people apart by at least 6 feet — does not continue, the governor said.

“The science is clear. More people will die if we stop now,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference, Inslee displayed a chart showing cumulative COVID-19 cases this month per 100,000 population, comparing Washington with four other states. The increase is considerably lower than in New York and New Jersey.

“The curve shows that the things we are doing appear to be working, giving us additional time to build our hospital capacity to serve the surge of patients that may be coming,” he said.

The governor also displayed a chart that he said shows “why we need to keep going” with social distancing. It showed that the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests over the past two months are increasing.

‘We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said. “We shall never flag or fail in our commitments to win this battle. We will not accept unnecessary deaths in our state. And I know that we need to think about all of the ramifications of this order. They are a heavy weight on all of us, including myself.

“We know that more Washingtonians will be in financially precarious positions through no fault of their own because of this virus. And we need to exercise all of our efforts to find ways to support these Washingtonians,” Inslee added.

Inslee made his remarks the same day that the state Employment Security Department released figures showing an unprecedented rise in initial unemployment claims continued for the second week in a row.

Also, the National Federation of Independent Business said a nationwide survey found that about half of small employers say they can survive for no more than two months and about one-third believe they can remain in business for three to six months.

State Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, referred to Inslee’s decision as “sound,” but added: “I do hope some thought has been given to what this will mean from an economic standpoint, because we need a strong private sector to support the public services and programs that benefit so many people.

“Coming out of this crisis with a devastated economy would not only prolong the pain so many are already feeling but also harm the state budget. That would be terrible news for people with developmental disabilities, seniors, foster families, schoolchildren, people experiencing homelessness, the hardworking taxpayers and so many more,” said Braun, who is the ranking Republican on the Senate’s budget-writing committee.

Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, said the state will have to make tough economic decisions in the months ahead.

“Let’s try to head some of that off by removing some of the inconsistent restrictions, such as those against home construction. If workers who are building low-income housing and government projects can work safely, so can residential construction workers,” he said.

This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Inslee extends stay-home order, business closures through May 4."