White House transitioning to in-person work in July, in another sign of US progress fighting COVID-19
- The White House is transitioning to in-person work next month, an official confirmed to Insider.
- Some employees will be permitted to continue working remotely based on their circumstances.
- Other federal agencies will come up with their own plans in terms of returning to the office.
The White House is set to transition to in-person work in July, an official confirmed to Insider, marking yet another milestone in the US fight against COVID-19.
A memo sent to the White House Office and and Office of the Vice President, which was first reported by Axios, said employees "will transition to full time on campus work during the window of July 6 to July 23."
The memo also said, "Any staffer with an extenuating circumstance that makes working in person not possible may, in consultation with their manager, continue to work remotely until those circumstances change."
A White House official told Insider this is not a full return to in-person work, stating that they're "phasing in or transitioning" to on-campus work.
This also does not mean all other federal employees are being brought back to work in-person again, as each agency is tasked to developing its own plan in this regard, an administration official told Axios.
As of last week, half of US adults were fully vaccinated for COVID-19. And federal data shows that more than 50% of the US population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile,
With more Americans vaccinated and daily new COVID-19 cases dropping in the US, workplaces across the country are implementing different models for employees in terms of working in-person versus continuing to work from home.
As of Tuesday, there have been more than 33.2 million recorded COVID-19 cases in the US and over 594,000 confirmed deaths from the virus, per Johns Hopkins University.
The US was considered the epicenter of the pandemic for months during 2020, as the Trump administration bungled its response to the crisis and then-President Donald Trump refused to take the threat of the virus seriously. The pace of vaccination increased significantly under President Joe Biden, and the US is now in much better shape than many countries across the world in terms of the fight against the virus.