Press Release
Bipartisan Assembly of Governors Support Call to Action to Defeat COVID-19
Bipartisan Assembly of Governors Support Call to Action to Defeat COVID-19
Recommendations call for concerted, cross-state action
December 10, 2020. Today, a bipartisan assembly of Governors representing 1 in 3 Americans issued support for a Call to Action to Defeat COVID-19 and Promote National Recovery and Renewal, developed and released by the COVID Collaborative.
This is the first time since the crisis began that Governors have come together on a bipartisan basis to support a common, comprehensive approach to defeating COVID-19 within and across states. In so doing, these Governors recognized that combating COVID-19 is a calling for the nation as a whole, and encouraged their fellow Governors to join them.
The Call to Action addresses the five key pillars of an effective response to the pandemic: testing, contract tracing, public health and social measures, vaccines and treatments, and common measures of success. Across these pillars, it emphasizes the need for state and local leaders to engage with vulnerable communities to ensure that their efforts to defeat the virus are both equitable and effective.
The Call to Action was developed by the COVID Collaborative, a national assembly that has brought together leading experts and institutions across health, education, and the economy to develop consensus best practices to support state and local leaders in their efforts to end the pandemic. The COVID Collaborative includes Duke Margolis Center for Health Policy.
Governors spanning the nation issued support for the Call to Action and the work of the COVID Collaborative, including Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH); Governor Tony Evers (D-WI); Governor Mark Gordon (R-WY); Governor Gary Herbert (R-UT); Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD); Governor Asa Hutchinson (R-AR); Governor Laura Kelly (D-KS); Governor Phil Murphy (D-NJ); Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA); Governor Ralph Northam (D-VA); Governor Jared Polis (D-CO); and Governor Tom Wolf (D-PA).
The COVID Collaborative will support Governors in implementing the Call to Action and other initiatives to defeat COVID-19. As part of that effort, the COVID Collaborative, the National Governors Association, and Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy released yesterday a review of state vaccine distribution plans highlighting challenges and creative strategies that will assist states in refining their efforts.
In addition to Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, the COVID Collaborative includes expertise from both Republican and Democratic Administrations at the federal, state and local levels, including former Governors, FDA Commissioners, CDC Directors and U.S. Surgeons General; former U.S. Secretaries of Education, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services; leading public health experts, scientists, researchers and institutions; business leaders, the Business Roundtable, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and National Association of Manufacturers; leaders of the NAACP, UnidosUS, Asian-American and Pacific Islander American Health Forum, and the National Congress of American Indians; major philanthropies including the Skoll Foundation, The Allstate Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Walton Family Foundation; and associations representing those on the front lines, from the American Public Health Association and Association of State and Territorial Health Officials to the Council of Chief State School Officers and the Council of the Great City Schools.
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