The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
April 27, 2020

States Prepare to Reopen Economies as Cases Continue to Mount
-------------------------------------------------------------

Here in the United States,the White House's coronavirus task force
coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, said Sunday that social distancing will
likely last through the summer, even as a growing number of states are
preparing to reopen parts of the economy. Restaurants and theaters in
Georgia will be allowed to reopen starting today, after other businesses
started opening their doors in Georgia last week, including massage and
tattoo parlors and nail and hair salons. Some parts of Texas are also
allowing restaurants to start serving eat-in diners, as Governor Greg
Abbott is expected to announce a further loosening of restrictions for
the state today. Colorado announced a new "safer-at-home" policy as
elective surgeries and retail businesses with curbside delivery will be
allowed to resume. This is Democratic Colorado Governor Jared Polis
speaking on CNN Sunday.

Gov. Jared Polis: "We have to make the best informed decisions based on
data and science with the information we have. What we know is that what
matters a lot more than the date that the stay at home ends is what we
do going forward and how we - how we have an ongoing, sustainable way -
psychologically, economically and from a health perspective - to have
the social distancing we need at workplace, where people recreate and
across the board."

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, however, extended his city's stay-at-home
order to May 8, saying more testing and tracing of the coronavirus is
needed before reopening. There are over 13,400 confirmed cases of
coronavirus in Colorado, with close to 700 reported deaths.

Here in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo said construction and
manufacturing in less-affected parts of the state may be able to open
after May 15, when the state's lockdown order is set to expire.
Meanwhile, Governor Cuomo warns New York will soon have to slash aid to
local governments by over $8 billion, while cutting state agency budgets
by 10%, unless Congress agrees to a bailout.

Last week, Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch Mc Connell drew
outrage from governors around the U.S. when he suggested state
governments should declare bankruptcy rather than receive hundreds of
billions of dollars in federal aid.


.