Coronavirus task force unit set to work from home after positive test

• A subgroup within the coronavirus task force has been ordered to work from home after a partner of the group tested positive.
• The Supply Chain Resilience task force will vacate its war room and work remotely.
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency informed their staff members via email late Monday.

A key unit of the White House coronavirus task force has been ordered to vacate its war room and work remotely after a “partner” of the group tested positive for COVID-19.

The sub-task force, headed by Navy Rear Adm. John Polowczyk, is part of the larger task force headed by Vice President Mike Pence. The said unit, the Supply Chain Resilience task force, is responsible for obtaining, shipping, and distributing personal protective equipment and other goods to help fight the spread of the coronavirus.

A partner is a term used for someone who usually does not work for the agency.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency informed its staff members via email late Monday.

The email listed Polowczyk and members of his unit as recipients.

According to the email obtained by NBC News and confirmed by a FEMA official, “all personnel of the unit … and the FEMA Conference Center are required to telework,” until further notice.

The “Conference Center” is a war room that was set up in the FEMA complex in Washington as the base of the supply chain unit.

The unit was put in the national spotlight following Polowczyk’s appearances at daily White House briefings and particular attention from presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The involvement of Kushner has also caused controversies since he is currently involved in President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.

Several critics also claimed that the task force has been circumventing federal procedures and structures, thereby causing inefficiencies, delays, and cost increases in acquiring goods.

It is still not clear, however, how the task force’s work will be affected by the new remote work situation.

Prior to Monday night’s email, the members of the task force were all working together in the conference center war room instead of from separate locations.

A spokesperson of FEMA informed NBC News that the agency conducted “contact tracing” in recent days. FEMA reportedly concluded that “at no time” did the person who tested positive “or any other known to have contact with them, come within six feet of any other Task Force principal for a prolonged period of time.”

The spokesperson also gave the assurance that “all areas visited by Task Force members were disinfected prior to their visits” and that “FEMA will facilitate cleaning to ensure that the potentially affected workspace meets federal health and safety standards.”

The FEMA official stated that the agency closed off the two locations within the FEMA complex that was visited by the “partner” who tested positive.

According to the same official, this was not the first issuance of a stay-at-home order for a task force unit, saying, “We’ve had numerous people test positive. … Sometimes they’re telling us, sometimes they’re not.”

Source: NBC News