At his second press briefing of the day, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a coalition of six contiguous northeastern states--New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Rhode Island--to form a council to "start designing a reopening plan." The council will be made up of three delegates from each state: the head of economic development, the head of public health, and the governor's chief of staff. Cuomo said the council would start talking tomorrow to come up with the plan within a few weeks--a plan that was "ASAP but smart."
The governors of all six states participated in the press briefing. Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey stressed that "economic recovery only occurs on the back of health care recovery." Governor Ned Lamont of Connecticut reiterated the need to "make sure you don't pull the trigger too early." Governor Ted Wolf of Pennsylvania spoke of the importance of "creating a plan to let our people know that we do have a future" and to "restore the sense of hope." Governor John Carney of Delaware commented that "our economies are connected and our states are connected" by the I-95 corridor and by Amtrak." Governor Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island spoke of a "smart, targeted approach to slowly reopen the economy" and expressed the opinion "by working together, we will be much more likely to get it right."
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is maintaining that he has the authority to reopen the country when he decides the time is right: "Trump claims he can override states on ending COVID-19 shutdowns."
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