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INFECTED ON THE JOB... AND 90 PERCENT WERE NOT HOSPITALIZED. MAINE SENATORS ANGUS KING AND SUSAN COLLINS ARE NOW PART OF A TASK FORCE FOCUSED ON FINDING A SAFE WAY TO RE-OPEN THE AMERICAN ECONOMY. THE BIPARTISAN COMMITTEE WILL LOOK FOR WAYS THAT SUPPORTS LONG-TERM HEALTH WHILE ALSO ALLOWING FOR ECONOMIC ACTIVITY. SENATOR KING SAYS HE WILL

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President Donald Trump has appointed Maine U.S. Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins to serve on a task force focused on coming up with a plan to reopen the economy.King said he will push the committee to put health outcomes first as the country grapples with the coronavirus outbreak.King told WMTW News 8 that there needs to be a national coronavirus testing strategy that generates 10 times more testing.“The problem is the states don’t really have the capacity to work on the supply chain, generate supplies. This is a uniquely national problem, this should be a national response. I think the President did the right thing by saying this should be the decision of the governors, but by turning over responsibility for testing to the governors, that’s not realistic or fair,” King said.King also said there needs to be a plateau in new cases before communities can safely reopen.“The danger is if we go back while this thing is still abroad, while it’s still coming at us, it could just lengthen it. We could end up coming back into a kind of lock down in the early summer that would last longer and be darker. So, that’s the problem,” King said.King said the Trump administration should make better use of the Defense Production Act powers to get more virus testing supplies to all states.Collins said in a statement Thursday that there needs to be a bipartisan approach to reopening the economy.“Protecting the health and safety of the American people during the pandemic is my top priority,” Collins said. “Once is it determined safe to do so by medical experts, it is imperative that we have a plan in place to re-open our economy in order to reverse the staggering job losses and the harm being caused to small businesses and their employees.”The task force includes members of the Senate and House.