Gov. Andrew Cuomo at a press briefing in Albany today
April 13, 2020 By Allie Griffin
Six states — New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Rhode Island — will launch a cooperative effort to reopen their economies, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today.
Each state will name a public health official, an economic development official and a chief of staff member that will form a working group to develop a reopening plan, Cuomo said.
He said they will “start work immediately” to develop strategies to ease restrictions that have halted normal life for residents.
“The state boundaries mean very little to this virus,” Cuomo said.
The six-state panel will evaluate public health research, economic reactivation issues, hard data and the experience of other countries to create a set of guidelines.
Each state may not have the same exact reopening plan and dates as they each have their own individual circumstances, but Cuomo said he hopes the plans are as coordinated as possible.
“I don’t believe we wind up with a fully common strategy,” Cuomo said. “You have different states in different positions.”
Many of the six states — including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut — formed a coalition in announcing business shutdowns last month.
“We started this journey together, we’re going to end this journey together,” Cuomo said.
