“I think this regional compact is based on the idea that you're not going to have a healthy economy if you have an unhealthy population, so we have to do both,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said on a conference call Monday. led by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The Northeast has been hit particularly hard with the biggest outbreak centered on New York, which has more coronavirus cases than any other country outside the US. There are more than 558,000 cases in the US as of Monday afternoon with more than 300,000 of them concentrated among the six northeastern states.
Cuomo said each state will name a public health and economic official who will jointly decide when to begin easing restrictions designed to contain the Covid-19 outbreak, taking into account both public health and economic concerns.
“State lines mean very little to this virus,” Cuomo said. “We started this journey together and we will finish it together.”
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont reported a resurgence of cases in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan after those areas appeared to have the outbreak under control and began reopening trade.
“That would be such a drag on our economy,” Lamont said.
They were joined by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Delaware Governor John Carney and Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo.
Earlier on Monday, at least some of the governors on the call spoke with White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence and the coronavirus response coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, Murphy said on social media. He added that they discussed the need for rapid and widespread testing across the US
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee later announced a similar regional partnership on the West Coast. Each state will still develop its own plan to reopen the economy, but all three governors agreed to prioritize certain principles, including putting health first and using science to inform policy.
“COVID-19 does not follow state or national borders,” Newsom's office said in a statement. “It will take every level of government, cooperation and a full picture of what is happening on the ground.”
Northeastern governors, led by Cuomo, announced the coronavirus team hours after President Donald Trump claimed in a tweet that he, not state leaders, has the power to decide when to “open up” the country.
“It's the president's decision, and for a lot of good reasons,” Trump said. Legal experts say Trump is wrong. US law gives state governors wide latitude to protect the health and safety of their constituents. Trump also never declared a national lockdown, so there is no mechanism by which he could order a national opening now.
Instead, the White House provided non-binding guidelines on social distancing, which were recently extended until the end of April, while most states have imposed strict restrictions on businesses and individuals in an effort to limit the spread of the virus.
