"EPA has begun the slow process of reopening offices despite its employees' worries about potential exposure to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler told staff yesterday in an internal email obtained by E&E News that the agency has decided to reopen its Region 4 office in Atlanta; Region 7 in Lenexa, Kan.; and Region 10 in Seattle.
EPA closed its Region 4 office Wednesday and Region 7 and 10 yesterday. Those offices will remain closed for seven days so the coronavirus is rendered inactive, Wheeler said. The next step will be for those locations to begin "Phase 1," a limited reopening that would bring staff back in phases to the workplace with social distancing restrictions, after an additional review of the data on the virus's spread."
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