The governors of seven Midwestern states announced that they would be participating in a regional effort to reopen their states’ economies as coronavirus cases begin to level off.
The bipartisan coalition, which was announced Thursday, includes Democratic Govs. Tim Walz of Minnesota, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Tony Evers of Wisconsin, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, as well as Republican Govs. Mike DeWine of Ohio and Eric Holcomb of Indiana. The group effort follows a trend of states joining forces to coordinate their reopening, including coalitions in the Northeast and the West Coast.
“We are doing everything we can to protect the people of our states and slow the spread of COVID-19, and we are eager to work together to mitigate the economic crisis this virus has caused in our region,” the group said in a statement.
They continued: “Here in the Midwest, we are bound by our commitment to our people and the community. We recognize that our economies are all reliant on each other, and we must work together to safely reopen them so hardworking people can get back to work and businesses can get back on their feet.”
The states listed four factors that will be used to guide decision-making, including “sustained control” over the rate of new cases of COVID-19 each day, expanded access to testing for those who may be infected, sufficient supplies for hospitals to manage a surge in cases, and statewide guidance for social distancing “best practices” to be used by individuals and groups as stores, schools, and businesses reopen.
Michigan and Illinois lead the region in confirmed cases of the coronavirus with 28,059 and 24,593 cases, respectively. All other states in the coalition have fewer than 9,000 confirmed cases.
