UPDATE: Shortly after the initial announcement, Massachusetts joined the coalition of states formed by New York. That brings the total number of states involved to seven.
The governors of six states in the northeast, including New York, will form an 18-member council of experts to offer recommendations, in the coming weeks, on how those states will go about reopening businesses and schools following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The council will include representatives from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, whose governors made the announcement Monday.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo hosted the announcement via conference call at the state capitol in Albany, where he’s delivered his daily briefings on COVID-19 since the beginning of March. The latest numbers appear to suggest the disease has plateaued in New York.
“Everyone is very anxious to get out of the house, get back to work, get the economy moving,” Cuomo said. “Everyone agrees with that. What the artform is going to be here is doing that smartly, and doing that productively, and doing that in a coordinated way.”
Each state will be represented on the council by three individuals: the governor’s chief of staff, a public health official, and an economic development official.
They’ll exchange information with other states about the trajectory of the disease within their borders, and how changes to current guidelines on businesses and schools could change that outcome going forward.
The council will offer recommendations on how each state should go about reopening businesses and schools, including if schools should be closed for the rest of the academic year. No statewide decision on schools has been made in New York.
Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have clashed in recent days over schools in the five boroughs. De Blasio said Saturday schools would remain closed through June, while Cuomo’s said he’ll decide when students, statewide, will return to class.
But Cuomo is now also at odds with President Donald Trump, who tweeted Monday that any decision to reopen schools and businesses will be made by the federal government, not states. Trump said he’s working with governors on that front.
“It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons,” Trump tweeted. “With that being said, the Administration and I are working closely with the Governors, and this will continue.”
Trump said a decision on reopening states would be made “shortly,” though Cuomo has indicated that he’s not ready to decide, just yet, when businesses and schools will reopen in New York.
Cuomo responded to Trump’s argument following the conference call Monday, saying he wants to see a plan from the federal government before he’s told he can’t unilaterally reopen New York’s schools and businesses.
“You want to change the management mode, you can do that as president. But what’s the model?” Cuomo said. “What does the federal government do, and what does the state do? Tell me, what are my roles?”
Those questions will likely be answered in the coming weeks, assuming the rate of infection and hospitalizations from COVID-19 continues to slow in New York. The council formed Monday will decide how that trend will inform their decisions.
The panel is expected to produce a set of recommendations in the coming weeks, Cuomo said. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll have dates for reopening at that point, but progress is expected fast.
