This article describes the efforts to coordinate responses across multiple states to reopen their economies amid the Coronavirus outbreak.
Today, New York Governor Cuomo announced the formation of a council comprised of scientific, economic and political leaders from each of 7 northeastern states. The council is tasked with developing a plan in the coming weeks to coordinate the relaxing of restrictions and reopening of the economy across their jurisdictions. The governors of California, Oregon, and Washington have announced a similar plan.
Oregon Governor Jay Inslee described the western states’ pact as being guided by the following three principles:
- Our residents’ health comes first
- Health outcomes and science – not politics – will guide these decisions
- Our states will only be effective by working together, as one
The Western governors, who released a joint statement today, elaborated as follows:
Health outcomes and science – not politics – will guide these decisions. Modifications to our states’ stay at home orders must be made based off our understanding of the total health impacts of COVID-19, including: the direct impact of the disease on our communities; the health impact of measures introduced to control the spread in communities—particularly felt by those already experiencing social disadvantage prior to COVID-19; and our health care systems’ ability to ensure care for those who may become sick with COVID-19 and other conditions. This effort will be guided by data. We need to see a decline in the rate of spread of the virus before large-scale reopening, and we will be working in coordination to identify the best metrics to guide this.
