California, Oregon and Washington will work together on a shared approach to reopening the economy while managing COVID-19 into the future, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced today.
As part of the Western States Pact, the three states will have their own reopening plans but all will work within a shared framework that focuses on science and not politics, Gov. Newsom said during a press conference today.
“We began a process of establishing more formally what it would look like and how we can begin the process of a kind of incremental release on the stay at home orders that advance the fundamental principles of keeping people healthy, keeping people safe, using science to guide our decision-making, not political pressure,” Gov. Newsom said.
In a joint statement, Newsom, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said, “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.”
The states will work with their communities on four goals for controlling the virus into the future:
- Development of a system of testing, tracking and isolating.
- Efforts to prevent and fight outbreaks in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities;
- Adequate hospital surge capacity and supplies of personal protective equipment;
- Mitigation for non-direct COVID-19 health impacts, particularly on disadvantaged communities
To read the full statement by the three governors, go here.
Photo credit: Office of the California Governor
