HARTFORD, Conn. — A group of governors in the Northeast announced a multi-state task force Monday to develop guidelines on how to eventually reopen the economy amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, along with Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, and governors from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Delaware, announced the initiative in a conference call.
“If you do it wrong, it could backfire,” Governor Cuomo said.
According to officials, each of the six states will put together a group.
“Each state is going to name a public health official for that state, an economic development official for that state, those officials and the chief of state of the governor of each state will then form a working group that will start immediately on designing a reopening plan,” Governor Cuomo said.
According to Governor Cuomo, the task force is expected to meet Tuesday and issue guidance within weeks. Governor Ned Lamont said he expected to announce the state’s task force Monday.
Governor Lamont also stressed the need to work together methodically and on a coordinated basis, which may include a shared database and protocols.
“All of our pandemic here in Connecticut is along the I-95 Metro North corridor where we have hundreds of thousands of people going back and forth between New York and Connecticut. It’s the commuter corridor for us, but also the COVID corridor,” said Gov. Lamont. “It’s so important we work together thoughtfully on this, listen to the experts, and make sure we don’t pull the trigger too early.”