Governors on East And West Coasts Form An Alliance To Decide When To Reopen States: ”Health And Science, Not Politics Will Guide Our Decision”

Two of the country’s largest economies, California and New York, along with its neighboring states has formed an agreement to decide, together, when and how to ease some of the shutdowns that occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic, despite Trump’s attempt to control the situation.

Several governors are said to be in agreement that science, not politics, will be the ultimate factor in determining when to lift the mandatory social and business restrictions.

” Any plan to reopen society must be driven by data and experts, not opinion and politics,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

Trump initially stated that the economy would open by Easter but later claimed that he had the” total” authority to decided when the country will reopen.

However, the governor’s alliance says the precautions that they’re taking to slow the spread of COVID-19 will not be effective unless they’re in unison.

New York leads the eastern region alliance along with New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Delaware.

The west coast alliance includes California along with their coastal neighbors, Oregon and Washington.

In a joint statement, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Governor of Oregon Kate Brown, and Jay Inslee Governor of Washington state said,” Our resident’s health comes first. Health and science, not politics, will guide our decision.”

The western governor’s alliance laid out goals on protecting the vulnerable population from contracting COVID-19, easing the effects of the shutdown orders, ensuring their prospective health worker can provide adequate and effective care for the sick, and developing a system for testing, tracking and isolating people who have been either infected by or exposed to COVID-19.

The governors in the eastern alliance are in the process of creating a council that will determine how to move forward with restarting their respective economies.  Three people from each state will form the council: one public health expert, one economics expert, and the governor.

Governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, said, “New Jersey is the densest state in America, and we’re in that corridor that is so unique,” Murphy continued.” It was imperative not to just do the things that we needed to do within our four walls as we closed our state down, but to do it in close coordination with New York and Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut.”

After learning of the governors’ alliance, Trump responded via Twitter, saying, “Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect. It’s the decision of the President and for many good reasons. With that being said, the Administration and I are working closely with the Governors, and this will continue.”

However, the governor’s alliance is a show of force and a move that proves the states have led the charge in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

” Throughout the crisis, the governors are the ones who have been showing great leadership and taking action to keep our residents safe,” Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo said. “I think it’s only appropriate that we do the same thing now by coming together and showing regional leadership to reopen the economy.”

In the U.S., there are more than 570,000 confirmed cases of COVID, with 23,000 reported deaths. New York accounts for more than 10,000 deaths, with New Jersey reporting 65,000 COVID-19 cases, and Massachusetts and Pennsylvania reported an upward of 25,000 cases, according to John Hopkins Medical Research Center.