Coronavirus: in rebuff to Donald Trump, US states team up to plan reopening economy
- President earlier tweeted that decision on when to lift pandemic restrictions was up to him, not governors
- Move highlights tensions between Trump and state authorities over handling of outbreak in US, which has most infections in the world
A total of nine states on the US East and West coasts said on Monday they had begun planning for the slow reopening of their economies and lifting of strict stay-at-home orders amid signs the worst had passed in the US coronavirus pandemic.
The Northeast states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will work with Delaware, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island in coordinating to gradually reopen their economies together, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
“Nobody has been here before, nobody has all the answers,” Cuomo said during an open conference call with his five counterparts. “Addressing public health and the economy: which one is first? They’re both first.”
The governors of California, Oregon and Washington said they also had reached an agreement on a shared approach to restarting businesses, although they gave no firm timeline and said they would be guided by the health of residents first.
Tensions between state governors and Trump have bubbled up since the outbreak worsened a month ago and emerged in the debate about when and how to restart economic activity.