Democratic governors in the north-east and west coast on Monday announced separate pacts to coordinate efforts to begin reopening society amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On the east coast, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced several north-east states would work together on determining when to reopen the economy. Cuomo said each of the six states would participate in a working group to make decisions on how and when stay-at-home orders can be relaxed without jeopardizing public health. Meanwhile the governors of California, Oregon and Washington announced a similar project for the west coast.
The governors made separate announcements just hours after Donald Trump said on Twitter that it was his decision to decide when to “open up the states”, a claim that has been contradicted by constitutional experts.
The governors did not announce specific plans on how to scale back stay-at-home orders or reopen businesses. Instead, both groups said they would coordinate those decisions while first considering the health of residents.
Cuomo said the state governments’ decisions about how to reopen the economy would be “guided by experts, data and science” and would not be done “in a political way”.
“Let’s be smart, let’s be cooperative and let’s learn from each other,” Cuomo said.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/13/democrats-governors-states-coronavirus-outbreak