The governors of ten states on the west coast and east coast of the United States are going to work together to eventually lift the lockdown and restart the economy after the corona crisis. That was announced on Monday in a joint statement. In doing so, they clash with President Trump who thinks that the task lies exclusively with him.
On the east coast, the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts will coordinate their plans to slowly end the lockdown and get the economy going again. On the west coast, such cooperation has started between the states of California, Oregon and Washington.
According to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, they will jointly set up a plan to gradually reverse the lockdown. However, none of the ten governors want to commit to a timeline when the vast majority of the more than 100 million inhabitants of their joint states are allowed to go outside.
More confidence in medical experts than in politicians
How and when companies, schools and universities can open again depends on how the coronavirus spreads. The governors all emphasize that the health of their citizens is paramount and that they trust medical experts more than politicians.
Nine out of ten co-operating governors are Democrats (only Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker is Republican) and have been at odds with Republican President Donald Trump for a month looking to reboot the economy as soon as possible. Before the announcement of the governors, Trump said that only he can decide on the restart of the American economy.
Trump: “I have the ultimate authority”
In his daily press conference Monday night, Trump reiterated that he has the “ultimate authority” to do that. “The President of the United States is in charge. That said, we’re going to work with the states.”
The death toll from the effects of COVID-19 in the United States exceeded 23,000 on Monday. At least 1,500 new deaths have been reported, much less than the past five days. The daily number of confirmed infections also seems to be leveling off. New York State has been the hardest hit, with over 10,000 killed to date.
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