U.S. West Coast states announce agreement for reopening economies

LOS ANGELES, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Three U.S. West Coast states, California, Oregon and Washington, announced an agreement Monday on a shared vision for reopening their economies and controlling COVID-19 into the future.

"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," governors Gavin Newsom, Kate Brown, and Jay Inslee said in a joint statement.

"We are announcing that California, Oregon and Washington have agreed to work together on a shared approach for reopening our economies - one that identifies clear indicators for communities to restart public life and business," they added.

Governors noted that 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.

Governors also pointed out that health outcomes and science - not politics - will guide their decisions.

"Through quick and decisive action, each of our states has made significant progress in flattening the curve and slowing the spread of COVID-19 among the broader public," according to governors, adding that public health leaders will focus on goals that will be critical for controlling the virus in the future.

"COVID-19 doesn't follow state or national boundaries. It will take every level of government, working together, and a full picture of what's happening on the ground," said governors.

"The West Coast is guided by science. We issued stay at home orders early to keep the public healthy. We'll open our economies with that same guiding principle," tweeted Newsom.

"There is no roadmap to address this unprecedented crisis. But there's power in working together with our neighbors on the West Coast as we plan to reopen our economies - and it's smart to coordinate our metrics, best practices, and processes," tweeted Brown.

Inslee also tweeted that the West Coast is ahead of the curve on COVID-19 and "We're going to make sure that stays true." He said that the three states will work together on a shared approach for reopening their economies.

There are more than 22,000, 1,500, and 10,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in California, Oregon and Washington respectively so far.