US states announce joint economic reopening amid virus

ANKARA

The U.S. states of California, Oregon and Washington have announced a shared vision to reopening their economies amid the novel coronavirus.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced in a joint statement that they made a Western States Pact pact on Monday.

"COVID-19 has preyed upon our interconnectedness. In the coming weeks, the West Coast will flip the script on COVID-19 – with our states acting in close coordination and collaboration to ensure the virus can never spread wildly in our communities," the statement said.

It added that the joint response would not hinder each states' ability to build a "state-specific plan."

"Our residents' health comes first," the pact said. "As home to one in six Americans and gateway to the rest of the world, the West Coast has an outsized stake in controlling and ultimately defeating COVID-19."

The governors agreed that health outcomes and science, not politics, will guide these decisions, and modifications to their states' stay at home orders must be made based on their understanding of the total health impacts of COVID-19.

"We need to see a decline in the rate of spread of the virus before large-scale reopening, and we will be working in coordination to identify the best metrics to guide this," they added.

Each of the states has made "significant progress" in flattening the curve and slowing the spread of COVID-19 among the broader public and now the public health leaders will focus on four goals that will be critical for controlling the virus in the future, the governors stressed.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday also responded to the claims that reopening decision of these three states was up to the governors, not that of the government.

"For the purpose of creating conflict and confusion, some in the Fake News Media are saying that it is the Governors' decision to open up the states, not that of the President of the United States & the Federal Government. Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect," Trump tweeted.

"It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons. With that being said, the Administration and I are working closely with the Governors, and this will continue. A decision by me, in conjunction with the Governors and input from others, will be made shortly!" he added.

Meanwhile, According to the U.S. website Politico, many other states are trying to reach necessary supplies to combat the pandemic, trying every possible way, including filing FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) applications, calling Trump, contacting Vice-President Mike Pence, and asking mutual friends to call Trump or sending him messages through TV or Twitter.

The report said Colorado Governor Jared made an official request for ventilators through FEMA, wrote to Pence and tried to purchase supplies himself but none of these actions bore fruit. The state received 100 ventilators five weeks after, following Republican Sen. Cory Gardner's call with Trump.

For Kansas State, Governor Laura Kelly submitted seven requests for medical supplies, but she could not receive any response until a reporter asked Pence about the situation in a briefing, Politico claimed.

While in Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker got some results after sending a tweet to the president and criticizing the situation on a TV program.

The U.S. has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases and fatalities worldwide now with over 582,500 cases and more than 23,600 deaths, according to the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.

In all, 44,308 people have recovered.

Overall, the virus has spread to 185 countries, infecting over 1.93 million people since it first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.