While the coronavirus has prompted federal financial institution regulatory agencies to order employees to telework from home, the consumer financial protection agency was forced Monday to close its Washington and New York offices after a contractor in agency headquarters tested positive for the disease, according to reports.
Yahoo News reported Monday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) offices in the capital and the nation’s largest city were closed after two of its workers showed symptoms of the disease (and were being tested) and the contract worker’s test results returned positive.
The bureau had on March 12, in an email, warned employees in Washington headquarters of the first possible case of coronavirus infection. That message, according to reports, said the agency had been informed that an individual who works in the bureau’s downtown Washington headquarters “exhibited symptoms” and was “scheduled to be tested for COVID-19.” At the time, the office was not closed, though employees who wanted to work from home were invited to do so.