Northeastern Governors Team Up To Slowly Reopen As Cuomo Declares ‘Worst Is Over’ In New York

The New York Times: ‘Worst Is Over,’ Cuomo Says As States Snub Trump On Restarting Economy
With the number of new deaths and rate of hospitalizations falling in New York, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Monday that “the worst is over” in the coronavirus pandemic, and he announced an alliance with six other Northeastern governors to explore how to eventually lift restrictions — a move that appeared to be an implicit rebuke to President Trump. The governors from New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Massachusetts and Rhode Island said they would begin to draw up a plan for when to reopen businesses and schools, and how quickly to allow people to return to work safely, although the timeline for such a plan remained unclear. (Ferre-Sadurni and McKinley, 4/13)

Reuters: New York, California And Other States Plan For Reopening As Coronavirus Crisis Eases
“Nobody has been here before, nobody has all the answers,” said Cuomo, whose state has become the U.S. epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic, during an open conference call with five other governors. “Addressing public health and the economy: Which one is first? They’re both first.” The three Pacific Coast states announced they, too, planned to follow a shared approach for lifting social-distancing measures, but said they “need to see a decline in the rate of spread of the virus before large-scale reopening” can take place. (Caspani and Resnick-Ault, 4/13)

The Associated Press: Governors Form Compacts To Coordinate Reopening Society
They did not announce specific plans on how to scale back stay-at-home orders or reopen businesses. Instead, both groups said they would coordinate those decisions while first considering the health of residents. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said it could take time. “The house is still on fire,” he said during a conference call with reporters. “We still have to put the fire out, but we do have to begin putting in the pieces of the puzzle that we know we’re going to need ... to make sure this doesn’t reignite.” (Mulvihill, 4/13)

NPR: States Unite On Reopening Economies: 'Science — Not Politics — Will Guide' Decisions
In separate announcements, the governors said they've agreed to let science, not politics, determine when to lift social and business restrictions. "Any plan to reopen society MUST be driven by data and experts, not opinion and politics," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said shortly before announcing the move. He added, "We will work together as a region." (Chappell, 4/13)

Boston Globe: Massachusetts, Girding For Coronavirus Surge, Joins Coalition Of Eastern States To Plan Next Chapter 
Governor Charlie Baker on Monday joined a coalition of governors from eastern states who will work together in planning the region’s return to normalcy from the COVID-19 pandemic, at once warning residents to prepare for more death and illness ahead while offering a hint at how they will lift the stringent controls on daily life. Massachusetts’ participation in the seven-state council, which was initially announced Monday without Baker’s participation, came hours after the Republican governor cautioned against focusing too heavily on reopening parts of the economy while the state remains in the throes of the public health crisis. (Stout, 4/13)

The Hill: California To Release Plan For Lifting Coronavirus Restrictions
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Monday that he would release his plan for loosening some restrictions put in place to stop the spread of coronavirus at a press conference on Tuesday. During his Monday afternoon press conference, Newsom said that a detailed plan for an “incremental release of the stay-at-home orders” that uses “science to guide our decision-making and not political pressure" would be released the next day, according to the Associated Press. (Bowden, 4/13)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Plan: California Working With Oregon, Washington
“COVID-19 doesn’t follow state or national boundaries,” Newsom, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement. “It will take every level of government, working together, and a full picture of what’s happening on the ground.” Newsom said he intends to provide details Tuesday on California’s strategy to begin to walk back his stay-at-home order and allow businesses to resume functions. (Luna, 4/13)

The Associated Press: With No New Virus Hotspots, Debate Rages On When To Reopen
A lack of new hotspots in the coronavirus pandemic appeared to be holding Tuesday, fueling a debate about how soon authorities could start scaling back social restrictions and reopen economies. While concerns remained over the virus’ fresh spread in places like Japan and Indonesia, nowhere was currently undergoing the explosion in hospitalizations and deaths that were seen earlier in China, southern Europe and parts of the United States. (Blake, 4/14)

The Washington Post: Virginia, Maryland, D.C. Weigh How Long To Keep Coronavirus Restrictions In Place
A group of scientists advising Virginia’s government said Monday that social distancing in the state appears to be working, and their models show the state’s hospitals have enough beds to handle the novel coronavirus pandemic for the next few months if current trends continue. But Gov. Ralph Northam (D) warned that the models also show lifting a stay-at-home order or other social distancing measures too soon would cause a spike in covid-19 cases that would overwhelm medical resources. “We can’t afford that,” Northam said. (Chason, Schneider and Nirappil, 4/13)

The Associated Press: Far-Right US Politicians Label Lockdowns Anti-Constitutional
In deeply conservative eastern Washington state, a prominent state lawmaker kicked out of his Republican Party caucus labels the coronavirus as a foreign bio-weapon, accuses Marxists of using the pandemic to advance totalitarianism and rails against lockdown restrictions imposed by the Democratic governor. A California teleconference last week to consider sport fishing limits in rural areas unprepared to handle influxes of anglers descended into chaos — with callers branding state officials as “fascists” and declaring it was time to “make fishing great again.” (Geranios, 4/13)

The Washington Post: South Dakota’s Governor Resisted Ordering People To Stay Home. Now It Has One Of The Nation’s Largest Coronavirus Hot Spots.
As governors across the country fell into line in recent weeks, South Dakota’s top elected leader stood firm: There would be no statewide order to stay home. Such edicts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, Gov. Kristi L. Noem said disparagingly, reflected a “herd mentality.” It was up to individuals — not government — to decide whether “to exercise their right to work, to worship and to play. Or to even stay at home.” (Witte, 4/13)

NPR: What Each State Is Doing To Fight The Coronavirus
Most have enacted stay-at-home orders, but policies vary from state to state when it comes to issues like school closures, election proceedings, interstate travel, business restrictions, resources for front line and unemployed personnel, and more. Each day brings changes. NPR is tracking developments in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia so you can see what's changed and how states compare. (4/12)

CNN: CDC Report Says People In Four Key Cities Are Listening To Stay At Home Orders 
People in four key cities are listening to orders to stay home, according to a report issued Monday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "When you put in these social distancing measures, they do seem to work," said study coauthor Kathleen Ethier, leader of the CDC's community mitigation task force for the Covid-19 response. (Cohen and Bruer, 4/14)