New York, New Jersey and five other states have joined a multi-state partnership that will examine how to reopen the economy safely once the coronavirus outbreak wanes.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday was joined via telephone by the Democratic governors of New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware and Pennsylvania to announce their plan for a reopening task force, which will take the coming weeks to study how to safely allow businesses to reopen and people to return to work.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, joined the consortium later in the day.

Each of the seven states will appoint three people to the task force: One health official, one economic development official and each governor's chief of staff.

The goal, Cuomo said, is to study what works, share resources and ideas, and make sure the re-opening process doesn't make the public health crisis worse in any way.

"It will be a public health strategy and an economic development strategy," said Cuomo, a Democrat. "You can't do one without the other."

Nearly 200,000 of the country's 547,000-plus confirmed coronavirus cases are in New York state, with more than 70% of those cases coming out of New York City.

On Monday, New York's death toll surpassed 10,000. New Jersey is a distant second, with about 65,000 cases and 2,400 deaths.

Read more: Coronavirus deaths: New York just passed a terrible COVID-19 milestone

Cuomo's concern is that without a unified reopening process, people will travel across state lines if, for example, bars reopen in one state and not another, he said.

If people abruptly stop social distancing and start gathering in large groups too quickly, it may cause devastating spikes in positive COVID-19 cases, he warned.

"The state boundaries mean very little to this virus," Cuomo said. "It doesn't matter if they are from Delaware or New Jersey or Connecticut or New York or what state they're from, it can have the same consequence."

The creation of the multi-state partnership comes as President Donald Trump has said the federal government will decide when to reopen the nation's economy, perhaps as soon as May 1.

On Twitter on Monday, Trump said it is "fake news" that states have the power to decide over the federal government.

"With that being said, the Administration and I are working closely with the Governors, and this will continue. A decision by me, in conjunction with the Governors and input from others, will be made shortly!" Trump tweeted.

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo thanked Cuomo for spearheading the states' task force and bringing together state leaders to coordinate the response.

She said she's already had her own team working on how to move forward with "the new normal," but welcomes the idea of working with neighboring states on streamlining policies.

"I don't want to keep people out of work one day longer than necessary. However, we need to do it safely," Raimondo said.

"We're looking at everything from how we screen people entering businesses to how we utilize more touchless technologies in our day-to-day interactions ... I am constantly thinking about what it's going to take to safely re-open our economy."

Though the task force only includes a handful of states right now, Cuomo said he's been in contact with other states, including Massachusetts, and is open to having other governors join in.

Cuomo has repeatedly refused to put a date on when the economy will re-open as the coronavirus creates an unpredictable future, and he did so again on Monday. But, he said, now is the time to start planning for the day life returns to normal — whenever that day might be.

"We have to be smart," Cuomo said. "You need the best public health plan and you need the best economic reactivation plan. It's not either or — it has to be both."

More:Coronavirus: Watch New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's April 13 daily briefing

More:Coronavirus in New York: Check our interactive map of cases and deaths by county

GSILVAROLE@Gannett.com