According to a COVID-19 dashboard created by Johns Hopkins University’s Whiting School of Engineering, there are more than 570,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S..

23,000 people of that total have passed away. In New York, more than 10,000 people died from the novel virus.  In New Jersey, there are 65,000 cases, and Massachusetts and Pennsylvania each have approximately 25,000 cases.

Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York and Governor Gavin Newsom of California has recently formed alliances with their neighboring states as an attempt to stop COVID-19. This is now potentially a roadblock in President Donald Trump’s plans of rebooting the national economy.

In the midst of the political turmoil and the 2020 Presidential Election, the governors have made a statement that science should guide the actions of the nation. Politics should not matter when dealing with a virus that deals with all Americans.

New York allied with New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Delaware. On the east coast, Governor Newsom allied California with Oregon and Washington.

Plans to “reopen society must be driven by data and experts, not opinion and politics,” said Cuomo. Together, these states will discuss potential restrictions and stay-at-home orders they would need to place. They will also discuss when these restrictions will be lifted.

A few hours after the coalition of states has announced their plan, Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts became the first Republican to join this united force.

Concerns for many of these states show. During a conference call, Gov. Phil Murphy stated that “New Jersey is the densest state in America, and we’re in that corridor that is so unique.”  He also added that it is important to do things “in close coordination with New York and Pennsylvania and Delaware and Connecticut.”

“I think it’s good in theory but hard to implement,” says Daphne Saatcioglu, a freshman at Wayne Hills. “But it’s good because it reminds us that we are not alone, which is something quarantine is making a lot of people feel.”

Hopefully, this will help America to flatten the curve and stop the virus before it can harm any more innocent lives.

Watch this video below to watch Andrew Cuomo’s speech on the coalition of states: