There’s growing consensus among public health officials that it’s time to reopen the country safely.

States have been reopening over the last few weeks despite rising case counts and the absence of a comprehensive national reopening strategy.

And now a bipartisan group of twenty-one public health officials have authored a new open letter in USA Today advocating for the safe, phased reopening of the country.

“We don’t believe we need to wait until everything is completely perfect or there is zero risk before we open again,” the authors write.

“The reality is that many states are already taking the first steps toward opening, and this must happen in the safest way possible.”

The officials recommend states employ widespread testing, contact tracing and other mitigation techniques as they gradually reopen low-risk businesses— like doctor’s offices and coffee shops— followed by businesses like restaurants and movie theaters, with modifications. 

Today, former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden also released an op-ed proposing an alert level system to guide states in reopening.

And this morning, the CDC released a 60-page document outlining its three-phased approach.