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.
Legal experts say a US president has limited power under the Constitution to order citizens back to their places of employment, or cities to reopen government buildings or transport, or local businesses to reopen.
Former top US health official says America not ready to ease distancing
“It is the decision of the president, and for many good reasons,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday. He went on to write that his administration was working closely with the governors.
“A decision by me, in conjunction with the governors and input from others, will be made shortly!” Trump’s tweet said.
Political leaders said a reopening of the economy may hinge on more widespread testing and cautioned that lifting of stay-at-home restrictions too early could reignite the outbreak. The Trump administration has signalled May 1 as a potential date for easing the restrictions.
The US death toll from Covid-19 topped 23,000 on Monday, with a total of more than 570,000 US cases. The United States, with the world’s third-largest population, has recorded more fatalities from Covid-19 than any other country.
But fatalities reported on Sunday numbered 1,513, the smallest increase since 1,309 died on April 6. The largest number of fatalities, over 10,000, was in New York state with the concentration in and around New York City.
Cuomo said on Monday that “the worst is over” for his state but warned that gains achieved through social distancing could be undone if “we do something stupid” and relax those restrictions too quickly.
Wyoming reported its first death from the coronavirus on Monday, the final US state to report a fatality.
