New York, California and other states plan for reopening as coronavirus crisis eases

[webfact]

New York, California and other states plan for reopening as coronavirus crisis eases

By Maria Caspani and Jessica Resnick-Ault

 

An ambulance drives across a nearly empty East 42nd Street in heavy rain and high winds in Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, New York, U.S., April 13, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Seven Northeastern U.S. states and three on the West Coast formed regional pacts on Monday aimed at coordinating a gradual reopening of their economies without a resurgence of coronavirus infections just as the outbreak appeared to be starting to wane.

 

New York, by far the hardest hit state, will work closely with nearby New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island to devise strategies for jointly easing stay-at-home orders imposed last month to curb coronavirus transmissions, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

Massachusetts later announced it was joining the East Coast coalition.

 

"Nobody has been here before, nobody has all the answers," Cuomo said during an open conference call with five counterparts. "Addressing public health and the economy: Which one is first? They're both first."

 

Separately, the governors of California, Oregon and Washington announced a similar agreement to devise a shared approach for lifting social-distancing measures, saying they "need to see a decline in the rate of spread of the virus before large-scale reopening" can take place.

 

The 10 state leaders, all Democrats except for Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, gave no timeline for ending social lockdowns that have collectively idled the vast majority of more than 100 million residents in their states.

 

But they stressed that decisions about when and how to reopen non-essential businesses, along with schools and universities, will put the health of residents first and rely on science rather than politics.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican who before the pandemic had touted a vibrant U.S. economy as the centerpiece of his re-election bid, has pressed repeatedly in recent weeks for getting Americans back to work soon. Ahead of the governors' announcement on Monday, he declared that any decision on restarting U.S. commerce was his to make.

 

Tensions between governors and Trump have bubbled up since the public health crisis worsened a month ago, and have re-emerged in the debate over economic imperatives versus public health priorities.

 

Legal experts say the president has limited power under the U.S. Constitution to order citizens back to their places of employment, or to require cities to reopen government buildings and transportation, or to order local businesses to reopen.

 

"It is the decision of the president, and for many good reasons," Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday, adding that his administration was working closely with the governors.

 

"A decision by me, in conjunction with the governors and input from others, will be made shortly!" Trump's tweet said.

 

Political leaders said a reopening of the economy may hinge on more widespread testing and cautioned that lifting of stay-at-home orders prematurely could reignite the outbreak. The Trump administration has signaled May 1 as a potential date for easing the restrictions.

 

DEATH TOLL TOPS 23,000

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19, the highly infectious lung disease caused by the virus, topped 23,000 on Monday, out of more than 575,000 known U.S. infections, according to a Reuters tally. The United States, with the world's third-largest population by country, has recorded more fatalities from COVID-19 than any other nation.

 

At least 1,500 new U.S. fatalities were reported on Monday, far below last week's running tally of roughly 2,000 deaths every 24 hours. New York state accounts for the largest number of cumulative deaths, over 10,000, the bulk of them concentrated in and around New York City.

 

Cuomo said on Monday that "the worst is over" for his state but warned that gains achieved through social distancing could be undone if "we do something stupid" and relax those restrictions too quickly.

 

Wyoming reported its first death from the coronavirus on Monday, the final U.S. state to report a fatality.

 

Official statistics, which exclude deaths outside of hospitals, have understated the actual number of people who have succumbed to COVID-19, health experts said. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T)

 

New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot acknowledged a "tightening" of the supply chain for swabs needed in coronavirus testing, and said it was part of a "national and international challenge" to ramp up testing.

 

Chris Sununu, the Republican governor of New Hampshire, said testing for the coronavirus had improved "but we don't have enough. Nobody has enough."

 

"There's just a limited supply for a massive amount of demand," Sununu told CNN.

 

To ease the impact of the shutdown on the U.S. economy, the two top Democrats in the U.S. Congress urged Republicans on Monday to authorize more funding for national testing. An effort to rush fresh assistance to U.S. small businesses stalled in Congress as the health emergency failed to overcome partisan differences between Republicans and Democrats.

 

(Reporting by Maria Caspani and Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York, Doina Chiacu and Lisa Lambert in Washington, Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Writing by Grant McCool; Editing by Frank McGurty, Howard Goller and Cynthia Osterman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-14

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[Tug]

No body’s going to listen to trump on this the goveners will call the shots imo much to trumps chagrin 

[FritsSikkink]

Sure everything is under control: 36,948 recoveries and 526,353 active cases detected (1,360,031 worldwide), what could possibly go wrong.

 

[brucegoniners]

What a misleading headline guys. Geez!

[LawrenceN]

6 hours ago, Tug said:

No body’s going to listen to trump on this the goveners will call the shots imo much to trumps chagrin 

Sure, but he will try to take credit and deflect blame. 

[natway09]

Keep "the Goose" out of your planning & do it slowly as you see fit.

Let the real Doctors guide you & do not be influenced by greed

As they said, "nobody has been there before" I hope it all goes well.

We are awakening to a different world.

 

[Redline]

This looks like a long term project 

 

https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/04/12/999117/blueprint-what-it-will-take-to-live-in-a-world-with-covid-19/?campaign_id=4&emc=edit_dk_20200413&instance_id=17600&nl=dealbook&regi_id=50295943&segment_id=24954&te=1&user_id=83381f746d407ed983b66eefb3f4f759

[Crazy Alex]

This is fantastic news! Now we can all agree that states are largely responsible for happens in them. As such, we can now all agree that New York is responsible for its high infection and death rates. They're a little late coming to the responsibility table, but good for them.

[Cryingdick]

2 hours ago, Crazy Alex said:

This is fantastic news! Now we can all agree that states are largely responsible for happens in them. As such, we can now all agree that New York is responsible for its high infection and death rates. They're a little late coming to the responsibility table, but good for them.

 

Watching the libs suddenly get excited about states and how they should have individual rights is amusing. 

[Mulambana]

15 hours ago, Tug said:

No body’s going to listen to trump on this the goveners will call the shots imo much to trumps chagrin 

It really does not matter. Trump will take credit for opening and will tell it was a beautiful opening, every body went to work as he told them. It was so beautiful it never happened before. Nobody could have stopped these workers who eanted to work (or die).

Edited April 14, 2020 by Mulambana

[Crazy Alex]

15 hours ago, Tug said:

No body’s going to listen to trump on this the goveners will call the shots imo much to trumps chagrin 

So then we can assume governors haven't been listening to Trump and should take full responsibility for the infection and death rates in their respective states, yes?

[heybruce]

39 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Watching the libs suddenly get excited about states and how they should have individual rights is amusing. 

Republicans support states rights?  That's new.   https://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/trump-about-strip-california-its-right-overrule-emissions-regulations-n1055811

[Cryingdick]

The thing is people will argue the constitution and it isn't clear that the Governors even have the rights to tell people to stay at home in the first place. Another example is the governor of Michigan is being very strict and dictating places like Walmart shut all sections deemed non-essential. There is no basis for this order. So far stores are complying but they are under no legal obligation to do so.

 

Drones in parks flying around ordering people around. It's becoming a very slippery slope. When things go back to normal I hope the drones stop. 

[Cryingdick]

2 minutes ago, heybruce said:

Republicans support states rights?  That's new.   https://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/trump-about-strip-california-its-right-overrule-emissions-regulations-n1055811

 

Trump is one republican out of many. Can you get me a list of every republicans stance on the issue and then come back with an opinion that is not a knee jerk reaction to Trump?

[Crazy Alex]

5 minutes ago, heybruce said:

Republicans support states rights?  That's new.   https://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/trump-about-strip-california-its-right-overrule-emissions-regulations-n1055811

Yes, many Republicans support states' rights. For example, I believe every state should have their own abortion laws. I believe every state should have whatever gun laws they see fit. Let the American people decide what kind of state they want to live in. I disagree with Trump's position on California and their pollution standards. Let them do as they please.

 

The only question left is are you able to see past one article and realize I am obviously one of many who believe differently than your use of cherry-picking is trying to convince otherwise.

[heybruce]

15 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Trump is one republican out of many. Can you get me a list of every republicans stance on the issue and then come back with an opinion that is not a knee jerk reaction to Trump?

No.  Can you give me a list of Republicans in office who defy Trump on anything?

[Crazy Alex]

2 minutes ago, heybruce said:

No.  Can you give me a list of Republicans in office who defy Trump on anything?

I Googled "Republican defies Trump" and got a plethora of results.

 

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=republican+defies+trump

 

Edited April 14, 2020 by Crazy Alex
fixed link

[heybruce]

13 minutes ago, Crazy Alex said:

Yes, many Republicans support states' rights. For example, I believe every state should have their own abortion laws. I believe every state should have whatever gun laws they see fit. Let the American people decide what kind of state they want to live in. I disagree with Trump's position on California and their pollution standards. Let them do as they please.

 

The only question left is are you able to see past one article and realize I am obviously one of many who believe differently than your use of cherry-picking is trying to convince otherwise.

It's not just one issue.  In fact, there is a very current issue:  https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-claims-governors-power-states-deciding-reopening-country/story?id=70119115

 

I also believe that states should  have whatever gun laws they want, and that those laws should stop at the state borders.  If it's necessary to stop and search people and vehicles coming from lax gun control states into other states to prevent the spread of illegal weapons, that should be legal also.

[heybruce]

5 minutes ago, Crazy Alex said:

I Googled "Republican defies Trump" and got a plethora of results.

 

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=republican+defies+trump

 

I should have specified regarding domestic affairs, specifically states rights.  On military and international affairs Trump has been so clueless and reckless he's forced the hands of Republicans.

 

So, any Republicans defying Trump on strictly domestic issues?  Any sitting Republicans defying Trump on states rights issues?

[Crazy Alex]

Just now, heybruce said:

It's not just one issue.  In fact, there is a very current issue:  https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-claims-governors-power-states-deciding-reopening-country/story?id=70119115

 

I also believe that states should  have whatever gun laws they want, and that those laws should stop at the state borders.  If it's necessary to stop and search people and vehicles coming from lax gun control states into other states to prevent the spread of illegal weapons, that should be legal also.

I agree with everything in your second paragraph. I'll add another and say states should be able to implement whatever drug laws they want.

 

Now I'd like to address an aspect of drug and gun laws. Let's see if we can find additional common ground. States still need to have reasonable cause to stop and search people. For example, if live in Texas and Mexico has legalized heroin and meth, that does NOT give law enforcement officials the right to simply stop people coming across the border from NM to TX because of NM license plates. As long as we're all willing to stand strong on probable cause, we should all be able to give states flexibility in how they decide to run things.

[Throatwobbler]

13 minutes ago, Crazy Alex said:

I Googled "Republican defies Trump" and got a plethora of results.

 

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=republican+defies+trump

 

I would say what is is more interesting is which Republicans have defied Trump to which Trump has responded like a mature adult.

[heybruce]

11 minutes ago, Crazy Alex said:

I agree with everything in your second paragraph. I'll add another and say states should be able to implement whatever drug laws they want.

 

Now I'd like to address an aspect of drug and gun laws. Let's see if we can find additional common ground. States still need to have reasonable cause to stop and search people. For example, if live in Texas and Mexico has legalized heroin and meth, that does NOT give law enforcement officials the right to simply stop people coming across the border from NM to TX because of NM license plates. As long as we're all willing to stand strong on probable cause, we should all be able to give states flexibility in how they decide to run things.

I thought you favored states rights.  Shouldn't states be allowed to set up the same criteria for preventing the entry of contraband as countries do?  In your example, shouldn't Texas be able to set up ports of entry with drug sniffing dogs and the right to search luggage just as international airports do?

[Crazy Alex]

4 minutes ago, heybruce said:

I thought you favored states rights.  Shouldn't states be allowed to set up the same criteria for preventing the entry of contraband as countries do?  In your example, shouldn't Texas be able to set up ports of entry with drug sniffing dogs and the right to search luggage just as international airports do?

No. That's unreasonable search and seizure. People and merchandise traveling from state to state are not handled the same as people and merchandise entering different countries. Hopefully, you're being sarcastic.

[heybruce]

4 minutes ago, Crazy Alex said:

No. That's unreasonable search and seizure. People and merchandise traveling from state to state are not handled the same as people and merchandise entering different countries. Hopefully, you're being sarcastic.

States rights must include the right to enforce state laws.  If guns, drugs, pollution belching vehicles, etc. are pouring into a state where these things are illegal, the state must have means of identifying and prosecuting the offenders.  The only alternative is to have national standards enforced on states.

[Crazy Alex]

7 minutes ago, heybruce said:

States rights must include the right to enforce state laws.  If guns, drugs, pollution belching vehicles, etc. are pouring into a state where these things are illegal, the state must have means of identifying and prosecuting the offenders.  The only alternative is to have national standards enforced on states.

They can identify and prosecute offenders the same way they do any other offenders: within the bounds of the Constitution. Using your logic, Texas cops should be able to pull over any car with Colorado license plates just to check if they have marijuana in the car.

 

A person entering a sovereign country from another country does not have the same Constitutional rights as people traveling from state to state. What a shame you think a police state is the solution- though sadly, not at all surprising.

[Stargeezr]

Oh yes Trump can walk on water, so lets not blame him directly

for any of this. He is a genius, after all. Lets continue to blame everybody but him,

that makes sense.

Geezer

[heybruce]

2 hours ago, Crazy Alex said:

They can identify and prosecute offenders the same way they do any other offenders: within the bounds of the Constitution. Using your logic, Texas cops should be able to pull over any car with Colorado license plates just to check if they have marijuana in the car.

 

A person entering a sovereign country from another country does not have the same Constitutional rights as people traveling from state to state. What a shame you think a police state is the solution- though sadly, not at all surprising.

Of course it didn't occur to you that I was pointing out the absurdity of having a patchwork of easily concealable and transportable things being illegal in one state and legal in another.  Freedom of movement requires laws that apply nation-wide.  When people advocate for states rights they generally are advocating for a selection of rights that confirm to their biases.

 

Getting back to my original example; California should be able to restrict vehicle registrations to those vehicles that conform to California's pollution laws.  This would not inconveniencing the citizens of other states.  Trump, with Republican acquiescence, definitely trampled states rights in that example by overruling California in that matter.

[Crazy Alex]

10 minutes ago, heybruce said:

Of course it didn't occur to you that I was pointing out the absurdity of having a patchwork of easily concealable and transportable things being illegal in one state and legal in another.  Freedom of movement requires laws that apply nation-wide.  When people advocate for states rights they generally are advocating for a selection of rights that confirm to their biases.

 

Getting back to my original example; California should be able to restrict vehicle registrations to those vehicles that conform to California's pollution laws.  This would not inconveniencing the citizens of other states.  Trump, with Republican acquiescence, definitely trampled states rights in that example by overruling California in that matter.

We already have states with different laws on guns and drugs. What absurdities have occurred? Let's see that list.

 

I have no problem in disagreeing with Trump's stance. If California wants to have their own pollution laws, go right ahead.

[Mama Noodle]

22 hours ago, Tug said:

No body’s going to listen to trump on this the goveners will call the shots imo much to trumps chagrin 

 

~ "Trump didn't do enough to shut down the country!" 

 

~ "Trump has blood on his hands!"

 

~ "Trump doesn't have the authority to tell us when to open up the country" 

 

~ Same people. 

[meechai]

6 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

Drones in parks flying around ordering people around. It's becoming a very slippery slope. When things go back to normal I hope the drones stop. 

I'm afraid this is basically all a test to see how far these things can be pushed.

After.... if there is an after ..... I think things will never be back to the "normal" we took for granted

& many sheeple gave away freely out of fear

 

Funny you mentioned drones I was just reading the same in an anonymous post from Spain today

The police are now also using drones to catch people who might venture out to stretch their legs and breathe some fresh air.

A post from Spain

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by meechai