Gov. Tom Wolf plans to join with governors of five other northeast states to decide when to reopen businesses currently shut down due to the coronavirus outbreak.

On Monday, Wolf joined the governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island, all Democrats, to announce a committee made up of economic and health experts.

Their goal is to create a plan to reopen businesses without leading to a surge in new cases.

“Getting it wrong, jumping in early, and jumping in alone could be wrong. There could be unintended consequences which could be grave,” said Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey.

The governors announced their effort after President Donald Trump said that his administration, not individual states, will decide when businesses can reopen nationwide.

Trump responded immediately, saying the president has the ultimate authority to reopen businesses.

Republican leaders in Harrisburg also oppose the partnership.

House Speaker Mike Turzai criticized the Wolf administration for failing to do enough to protect Pennsylvania’s economy.

“Gov. Wolf is entering into a deal with other governors that doesn’t take into account the needs and concerns of Pennsylvania citizens. He should work with the legislature to allow citizens to return to safe working environments within the parameters of CDC and Homeland Security Guidance so they can put food on the table,” Turzai said.

But Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York said they weren’t opposing Trump, they just want to have a plan in place which prioritizes health and the economy.

“We should start looking forward to reopening, but reopening with a plan, a smart plan because if you do it wrong it could backfire. We’ve seen that in other places around the globe,” Cuomo said.

Wolf said that as Pennsylvania planned its coronavirus response, it coordinated with the other states in the partnership. This committee looks to take the same approach toward recovery.

“We’re all going to do a great job for the people we serve, and we’re going to show the people of the United States how to come out of something as devastating as this in a responsible fashion,” Wolf said. While it’s likely that the states’ reopening plans won’t be identical, they want to work together because there is so much travel and commerce between them.

The partnership will be made up of three representatives from each state - one for public health, one for economic development and a third representative from the governor’s office.

Wolf said he does not believe that there has to be a choice between a healthy economy and healthy citizens. He said the goal of the partnership is to do both.

“I think this regional compact is premised on the idea that you’re not going to have a healthy economy if you have an unhealthy population. You’ve got to get people healthy first, then you can open the economy, or else the economy is not going to work,” Wolf said.

Wolf and Cuomo said that when the outbreak began, the governors were left to decide whether to shut down businesses in their states.

“Seeing as we had the responsibility for closing the state down, I think we probably have the primary responsibility for opening it up,” Wolf said.

Cuomo said if Trump wants to make it a federal decision, then he needs to provide more information to the states on how he wants it to be done.

In the meantime, they are moving forward assuming it will be a state-by-state decision.

Cuomo said there are many questions when it comes to reopening. He said there may have to be different guidelines for rural and urban areas.

Cuomo said It would be difficult to reopen businesses without schools in session, because many parents require child care. He said workers also need public transit, but because of the coronavirus there may be a shortage of transportation workers.

At least one state in the partnership, Rhode Island, has contemplated questions about “the new normal” when businesses reopen. Gov. Gina Raimondo said her state is looking into increasing opportunities for touchless payments, and whether people will have to be screened to enter a business.

“I’m looking forward to exchanging ideas,” she said. “I’m confident that by working together we’ll be much more likely to get it right for the citizens of this region,” she said.

Department of Health secretary Rachel Levine has announced the cases reported are not growing exponentially as they had been. The cases have been growing but more in a linear direction, meaning that mitigation is helping. The surge of cases is expected in the Northeast later this week.

As of Monday, Carbon County had no new reported cases. The total is 102 cases with three deaths.

Lehigh County has 1,747 cases and 19 deaths. On Sunday there were 1,684 cases, with 18 deaths. Monroe County has 816 reported cases and 24 deaths. On Sunday Monroe had 795 cases with 23 deaths. Northampton has 1,130 cases, an increase from 1,082 cases. The county had 23 COVID-19 deaths. Schuylkill has 192 cases, an increase from 188 cases. Two deaths have been reported in Schuylkill.

The department of health updates numbers daily at noon.