Anxiety, anger as State Dept. moves ahead with reopening despite area infection rate [View all]

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According to the latest ABC News analysis of the coronavirus’s spread, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland have all seen increases in cases, rates of positivity, and hospitalizations in recent days. Despite those climbing numbers, the State Department announced this week that it has moved ahead to the second phase of its reopening plan -- sparking anxiety and anger among a workforce comprising many unable or unwilling to return. The department is just one of several government agencies at which employees and their unions have expressed concern about returning to work too soon and putting them at risk.

According to the department's "Diplomacy Strong" plan, which was launched in May, the second reopening phase is supposed to begin when there is a 14-day downward trend in cases, as well as the availability of public transit, schools or day cares, and open non-essential businesses. While some of those conditions have not been met, a State Department spokesperson told ABC News Friday the move to phase two was made by department leadership "using guidance from the White House, CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], and local governments combined with objective criteria informed by data and good judgment."

The push has caught the attention of members of Congress in the Washington area, whose constituents include large numbers of federal employees. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin of Maryland and Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia wrote a letter to the acting directors of the Office of Management and Budget and of Personnel Management urging them to reverse these "unsafe actions."

"Reopening too quickly by ending maximum telework threatens to erase the progress made against the virus and endanger the health and safety of federal employees and everyone else in an agency’s region through increased community spread," the four Democratic senators wrote on July 9.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/anxiety-anger-state-dept-moves-ahead-reopening-infection/story?id=72120634