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Eight hundred fourteen Washingtonians died in the two months between Feb. 29 — when the first covid-19 death was recorded in Kirkland — and 11:59 p.m. April 29, according to the Department of Health’s Thursday update.

This compares to the 96 deaths to date in the state’s 2019-20 seasonal influenza season, to which some initially compared coronavirus.

As of 11:59 p.m. on April 29, there were 14,327 confirmed cases of covid-19 in Washington state, an increase of 257 cases in the last 24 hours. Visit the Department of Health’s website for cases by county, demographics and more: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus.

Epidemiology summary: Covid-19 activity continues to fall in Washington as measured by new hospital admissions for laboratory-confirmed covid-19 and the proportion of individuals testing positive for covid-19 each day. The total number of individuals tested increased almost 18% from the week ending April 18th to the week ending April 25th. We continue to have an average of about 215 new covid-19 cases reported every day.

PPE: The state continues its procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) but still is not able to bring in enough supply to meet demand. Global supply chain challenges have meant our incoming orders are not keeping pace with original vendor projections. The state is working to comprehensively review shipping challenges and identify opportunities to expedite orders. In addition, a handful of orders have been cancelled due to issues like quality, inability of a manufacturer to obtain needed supplies, and suppliers not receiving back-ordered items from manufacturers.

To date, approximately $9 million worth of PPE ordered has arrived and been accepted, out of the more than $343 million ordered. Because PPE supplies remain limited, state officials continue to prioritize Tier 1 needs which include hospitals, long-term care facilities and first responders.

Food supply: Last week the state distributed an estimated 1.4 million pounds of emergency food to serve 171,086 clients across the state. Food banks also received assistance from more than 600 Washington National Guardsmen who helped box more than 5.2 million pounds of food and assembled more than 230,000 meals.

This week, WSDA participated in a corporate donor outreach to update philanthropic organizations that are considering contributions to the Washington Food Fund. WSDA estimated a $5.5 million weekly burn-rate for meeting statewide food bank demand. WSDA continues to adjust ordering schedules and seek new sources and supply channels to fill an $11 million gap expected in the first weeks of May.

Unemployment numbers: During the week of April 19-25, there were 1,455,908 total claims for unemployment benefits filed by Washingtonians for unemployment benefits, according to the Employment Security Department (ESD).

In addition, during the week of April 19-25, ESD paid out over $988 million (an increase of $811.2 million from the previous week) to a total of 504,407 claims (an increase of 151,498 from the previous week). An individual can file more than one claim, so the number of claims does not equate to individuals

Since the week ending March 7 when covid-19 job losses began:

• A total of 787,533 distinct individuals have filed for unemployment insurance

• ESD has paid out nearly $1.5 billion in benefits to Washingtonians to more than 500,000 Washingtonians