When the time comes to reopen Indiana’s economy, it will do so in cooperation with six other Midwestern states. Governor Eric Holcomb and the governors of Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Minnesota have announced a partnership to coordinate the reopening.
In a statement Thursday, the governors promised to reopen their economies in a way that prioritizes workers’ health. They also said they’d make decisions based on facts, science, and expert recommendations.
But that doesn’t mean that every state will take the same steps at the same time. During Thursday’s COVID-19 press conference, Governor Holcomb wasn’t ready to follow other states’ lead of announcing a specific reopening date, but he did say he’s thinking about early May. “It’ll be a very methodical, data-driven, rolling, gradual, incremental process,” Holcomb said. “And so it won’t go from zero to 100 or it won’t be like flipping on a light switch, where everything is immediately back to normal. We didn’t arrive here overnight, and we’re not going to get out of the woods overnight.”
Before reopening their economies, the governors say they want to have a sustained control of the infection and hospitalization rate, an enhanced ability to test and trace cases, enough health care capacity to handle resurgence, and recommendations for social distancing in the workplace.
