New Jersey and Pennsylvania are joining a coalition of seven states hardest hit by the new coronavirus, forming a task force for a regional approach to reopen their states in the wake of the outbreak.
The regional council formation, led by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was announced Monday and also includes Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware and Massachusetts.
The council will be charged with developing a fully integrated regional framework to gradually lift the states’ stay-at-home orders. The group will include a public health expert and economic development expert, plus the chief of staff of each governor. The coordinated public health strategy and an economic strategy will set up the path to reopen businesses and schools, and return people to life beyond staying at home, while also working to prevent a resurgence of the coronavirus.
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The council will create the coordinated plan using every tool available to accomplish the goal of easing social isolation without triggering renewed spread — including testing, contact tracing, treatment and social distancing. It is to rely on the best available scientific, statistical, social and economic information to manage and evaluate those tools.
The region has been hard hit by the virus, with more than 103,000 cases in New York and more than 64,000 in New Jersey. More than 6,800 people have died in New York as of Monday, and more than 2,300 have died in New Jersey.
“No one has done this before,” Cuomo said on a conference call with reporters that included New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, Delaware Gov. John Carney and Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo. Massachusetts joined the regional effort not long after the news conference.
“We are looking forward to reopening but reopening with a plan, and a smart plan,” Cuomo said.
New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York worked in close coordination when they closed schools and ordered residents to stay at home to slow the spread of the virus. Murphy said the effort to reopen in coordination is a continuation of that effort.
“To do that in coordination seems to be an overwhelmingly prudent approach,” Murphy said. “An economic recovery only comes on the back of a health care recovery.”
Wolf said establishing the council and creating a plan is critical to restoring “the sense of hope that this pandemic has taken away from so many of us.”
“We are creating a plan to let the people we serve know we do indeed have a future,” Wolf said.
“You can quantify the economic toll but can’t quantify the emotional toll this has taken,” Cuomo said.
The announcement of the regional effort comes as friction continues between governors and President Donald Trump over when and how states will reopen and who has the say over those decisions. It also comes as New York’s outbreak appears to have plateaued, according to Cuomo.
“You can say, ‘Isolation over, come out of your homes, businesses are open,’ but what does that mean?” Cuomo said.
Restarting the economy has to be done in a coordinated effort because the various pieces — schools, businesses, transportation systems — are reliant on each other, Cuomo said. If there aren’t enough transportation workers, it will create issues with business operating. To open businesses, schools have to be open because there needs to be a place for children to go, he said.
Cuomo said the council will consult with experts to help guide the decision-making to prevent a move that triggers a resurgence of the virus that would undo all the work that has been done.
“You need the best health plan and best economic reactivation plan,” Cuomo said. “It can’t be either-or; it has to be both.”
The governors emphasized one of the reasons they believe a regional approach is needed is because of the way the seven states are interconnected economically.
The Interstate 95 corridor that traverses the states creates a tri-state workforce, Connecticut’s Lamont said.
“All of our pandemic in Connecticut is along the I-95 corridor,” he said.
Cuomo said there is a realization among all the states that a coordinated effort among the six states does not mean each state will do exactly the same approach.
“We won’t wind up with a fully common strategy,” Cuomo said, because what’s needed in the city won’t apply in the same way to rural areas.
“We can’t get on the same page 100 percent, but we can hopefully avoid contradictory policies,” he said, such as reopening bars and restaurants in one state when other states’ restaurants remain closed.
“This will help us think this through what it takes to re-enter and get our economies moving again,” Delaware’s Carney said.
“I think we are going to show the people of the United States how we come out of this in a responsible fashion,” Wolf said.
“We started this journey together,” Cuomo said. “We can end this journey together on a positive note.”
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This article originally appeared on the Toms River Patch