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Law360 (March 18, 2020, 2:40 PM EDT) -- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ordered all of its employees and contractors to telework as the novel coronavirus continues to spread across the nation.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Tuesday that all NASA facilities will move to Stage 3 of the agency's response framework, which bars all staff from accessing their worksites except for those employees considered to be "mission essential."
"Agency leadership will continue to monitor the rapidly-evolving risks COVID-19 poses to our workforce," Bridenstine said. "NASA's early and thoughtful actions in coordination with our country's unified response to this health emergency is an incredible display of national solidarity."
NASA had previously disclosed that employees at the Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, and the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Those sites were already placed under limited access before yesterday's order.
Workers at other NASA sites had also previously been encouraged to take all necessary equipment home and telework and suspend all nonessential travel.
Along with the work facilities, NASA visitor centers including Florida's Kennedy Space Center and Space Center Houston have been ordered closed due to the virus outbreak.
NASA's announcement follows in the footsteps of a number of federal agencies that have also ordered their employees to telework, including the National Labor Relations Board, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
A NASA representative didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
--Editing by Daniel King.
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