Democratic Governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Rhode Island announce multi-state council to plan reopening of economy region wide

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Recognizing that their states have one integrated regional economy, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and Delaware Governor John Carney today announced the creation of a multi-state council to restore the economy and get people back to work. This announcement builds on the states’ ongoing regional approach to combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

The coordinating group – comprised of one health expert, one economic development expert and the respective Chief of Staff from each state – will work together to develop a fully integrated regional framework to gradually lift the states’ stay at home orders while minimizing the risk of increased spread of the virus.

The council will create this framework using every tool available to accomplish the goal of easing social isolation without triggering renewed spread – including testing, contact tracing, treatment and social distancing – and will rely on the best available scientific, statistical, social and economic information to manage and evaluate those tools.

During the call, Raimondo said that she intends to take an “industry by industry” look at what she calls the “new normal,” post pandemic. Some of these new initiatives include developing new screening programs for people going to work and new “touchless technologies” for day-to-day interactions.

“States are taking the lead as we fight to slow the spread of coronavirus and save lives,” said Governor Raimondo in a statement. “I’m proud of the steps we’ve taken, and I’m constantly thinking about what it will take to safely reopen our economy. But we know that this virus does not recognize borders, and it’s clear we need a strong, coordinated regional approach to avoid a second wave of this disease. I’m grateful to my fellow governors for their leadership during this crisis and I’m confident that this new partnership will support our efforts to get Rhode Islanders – and all Americans – back to work safely.”

In addition to working with regional Democratic Governors, Raimondo also spoke about collaborating with Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker about strategies to reopen the economy.

Here are all of Governor Raimondo’s comments made during the call:

Here’s the entire call: