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 McConnell 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.