In a press conference this afternoon, Governor Cuomo led a conference call with other local governors to announce a coordinated “reopening plan.”
Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Ned Lamont of Connecticut, Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania, John Carney of Delaware and Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island joined Governor Cuomo to discuss their reopening plans.
Cuomo emphasized that the team wants to reopen their economies “smartly, productively, and in a coordinated way.” He said that it must be done with other states in the area as a cooperative effort.
Though we are not out of the woods on the virus yet, overall hospitalization, ICU and incubation rates have been down in New York State, implying that we have hit the apex of the virus and have been thus far successful in limiting its spread. He said the “plateau” is “relatively good news.”
“We’ve started looking forward to ‘reopening’ with a plan. A smart plan…if you do it wrong, it can backfire,” he said, pointing to other countries that have been resurgences. “We want to ensure public confidence that we are doing this in every way we can, guided by experts, data, and science…not in a political way.”
The plan they announced involves an economic development official, public health official and the Governor’s chief of staff from each state forming a task force of sorts, and the state leaders will work with those representatives to form a safe and effective plan to restart the economy. The leaders will all work together to make sure efforts don’t negatively affect bordering states or cause a virus resurgence.
Cuomo said earlier today that things won’t really go back to normal or be “over” until a vaccine is developed in 12-18 months, but that there will be other incremental changes in between now and then that will help relieve some tension.
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featured image source: NYC/Governor Cuomo