Governors on East and West Coast Announce Economy Reopening Plans Once Coronavirus Slows

A number of American states on both coasts have announced they will be working together to reopen their economies once the threat of coronavirus is minimized. On the East Coast, the governors of Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island agreed to form a committee of public health officials, economic development officials, and their chiefs of staff, who will decide when to ease economic restrictions. On the West Coast, the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington announced they will be undertaking similar efforts, in addition to building out a strategy that would include how to control the virus in the future.

So far, states have each been handling responses to the coronavirus outbreak on their own, with different restrictions being put in place in different parts of the country.

At the same time, a number of European countries are debating whether to begin easing restrictions on their businesses. Austria will begin lifting restrictions this week and Germany plans a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel to debate similar actions.

Politicians in Germany have begun debating a potential easing of restrictions ahead of a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel planned for Wednesday, @Reuters reports.

Austria will begin lifting its #coronavirus restrictions already on Tuesday: https://t.co/R135gZSwqc

— Dana Regev | @danaregev.bsky.social (@Dana_Regev) April 13, 2020

A number of states are projecting that the worst is now behind them and that the daily tolls are beginning to decline throughout the world. However, the danger of a second wave of infections, caused by an ease in restrictions, remains high. Without herd immunity, coronavirus cases could easily spike again after being imported by travelers arriving from abroad.