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US States plan joint strategies to reopen economies 2:20
(CNN) - While many governors in the United States say coronavirus tests are far from reaching full capacity, only few states in the country would lift the restrictions this week.
The announcements of lifting restrictions come when the number of deaths from coronavirus in the United States exceeded 40,000 on Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU). There were at least 40,680 deaths among 759,780 coronavirus cases, according to the university's covid-19 tracker.
Several regional groups of states have discussed strategies to reopen each other.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster is expected to announce Monday the lifting of restrictions orders such as access to the beach, rivers and lakes, and that buyers be allowed to return to retail stores to buy jewelry, clothing. and furniture, according to a report by The Post and Courier newspaper.
Despite the expected reopening of some sectors of South Carolina, a coalition of coastal towns in the Charleston area said in a joint statement on Sunday that they will continue to limit access to non-residents and will monitor travel within their jurisdictions.
Other states are working on plans to reopen after the publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guide last week.
The guide suggests states expand their testing capacity, but some say they need more supplies and personnel to do it.
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States want to expand covid-19 testing capabilities
Over the weekend, President Trump said that governors across the country had the ability to complete more tests but were not using their resources properly.
“They don't want to use all the capacity that we have created. We have tremendous capacity, "Trump said during a White House briefing. "They know. Governors know this. Democratic governors know this. They are the ones who complain. ”
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam called the president's comments "delusional."
Northam said he wants to see at least a two-week trend of declining coronavirus cases before companies in his state reopen.
"We want to make sure that we are doing it responsibly and that we are doing it safely," the Democratic governor told CNN's Jake Tapper on "The State of the Union."
“We have been fighting for the tests, it is not a simple test. We don't even have enough swabs believe it or not, ”Northam said.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan also told CNN's Jake Tapper that Trump's claim that the governors have a lot of evidence and are simply not doing their job is "absolutely false."
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker made similar comments Sunday. He said he wants businesses to reopen so that residents can enjoy recreation this summer, but said they need to listen to scientists and doctors investigating the virus before they can comfortably and safely reopen businesses to the public.
To do it safely, the state needs more lab technicians, more reagents and more RNA extractors to analyze the samples taken, Pritzker said.
Harvard researchers warned that if the country wants the economy to reopen, and stay that way, the tests must reach at least 500,000 people a day.
Tests across the country are currently 150,000 a day, they said, adding that "if we can't do at least 500,000 tests a day by May 1, it's hard to see any way to stay open."
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Governor Cuomo: "We control the beast ... but we don't kill it"
Aside from testing the virus itself, antibody testing is being considered as a major component in determining to lift the restrictions, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said in a statement Saturday.
"The results of these tests can help identify who has become infected and has developed antibodies that can protect against future infections, as well as identify those who are still at risk," the statement said.
As promising as these tests could be, the FDA statement says it is still unknown whether people with antibodies are fully protected against reinfection or how long their immunity could last.
Despite a lack of information on the effectiveness of current antibody tests, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Sunday that the state will conduct the "most aggressive" statewide antibody testing survey across the country .
"We are going to start antibody testing statewide (Monday)," Cuomo said. "We will do it in the most aggressive way in the nation. This will be the first real snapshot of exactly how many people were infected with covid-19 and where we are as a population and will help us reopen and rebuild without compromising what we have already accomplished. ”
"We control the beast," said Cuomo. "We don't kill the beast. And the beast can rise again. "
If and when restrictions are lifted, infection and hospitalization rates should be controlled and your plan adjusted accordingly.
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"And if we go through all of this and lose all of these people and force essential workers and hospital workers to do amazing things to help us get through this crisis and we end up recreating the crisis, then it will be a disgrace to us," Cuomo said. .
Louisiana, which saw the fastest growing per capita coronavirus than anywhere in the world a few weeks ago, appears to be "in a good direction," Governor Bel Edwards said during a press conference on Sunday.
While the case count continues to rise across the state, the rate of hospitalizations and ventilator patients has decreased, according to Edwards.
"We are in a much, much better place today than we thought we would be," Edwards said, saying that Louisiana citizens take the order to stay home seriously and stick to social distancing guidelines.
Illinois Director of Public Health Ngozi Ezike shared a similar sentiment that despite more than 30,000 positives statewide, she was "cautiously optimistic" that the number of new cases would continue to decline.
Downward trends in case counts are part of CDC guidelines issued Friday to "get and keep America open." The guidelines also recommend that rapid testing and increased hospital capacity be considered before states reopen.
Some restrictions will be lifted this week
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced three orders and the establishment of an Attack Force to open Texas. The team will work to develop strategies, standards and deadlines to reopen businesses. Abbott plans to announce a plan to reopen April 27, according to the order.
Despite several state leaders announcing their intention to reopen, many civilians protested across the country over the weekend demanding that they be allowed to return to work to try to revive the economy.
More protests are planned for Monday in New York State, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Missouri.
Over the weekend, protesters flooded Austin calling for the reopening of businesses. Similar protests were held in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Utah last week.
- CNN's Carma Hassan, Artemis Moshtaghian, Kristina Sgueglia, Chuck Johnston and Ben Tinker contributed to this report.
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