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Coronavirus Latest: Delaware Valley Governors Join Forces With Group Of 7 States To Determine When, How To Reopen Economy

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Governors in the tri-state area say we aren't ready to reopen the economy yet. But leaders are working together to plan what that reopening will look like when they do finally lift stay-at-home orders.

In an evening address, Gov. Tom Wolf said that Pennsylvania is still in the first of the three stages that a complete reopening will require.

This first stage is still focused on making sure that our health care system is not overwhelmed, the second stage is a transition and the third is a new normal.

"The real goal, of course, is to get to the point that we can fully resume our normal lives," Wolf said.

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In order for that to happen, Wolf says that more and better testing for COVID-19 and antibodies is required.

"We don't have a hard and fast metric for exactly when we achieve victory but we know we need to develop one," Wolf said.

While a recovery timeframe has not been established, a regional advisory board for the future reopening of society in the northeast has been created.

In a Monday afternoon conference call, the governors of seven states -- New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts -- announced that they will be working as a group.

"On designing a reopening plan, taking into consideration public health concerns and issues and the economic reactivation," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

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"This will help us as we think through what it takes to reenter and to get our economies moving again," Delaware Gov. John Carney said.

"Let's learn from this and then responsibly, as a region, coordinate and harmonize, reopen our societies and our economies," New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said.

After the regional advisory board was announced, President Donald Trump stated that the power to determine if and when to reopen state businesses exists on the federal level.

"It's a decision for the president of the United States. Now with that being said, we are going to work with the states," Trump said.

But the governors disagree, saying that if the burden to enforce closures fell on them, the decision to one day open up schools and businesses must be theirs as well.

Again, there is no timetable on when any states in the region would begin an effort to reopen.

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