The Department of Defense (DoD) will move to phase two of its reopening plan on June 29, allowing for up to 80 percent of employees to return to offices in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The main differences as DoD progresses from phase one to phase two are that more people will be in the workspaces and more facilities will open, per a June 25 press release. This phase still encourages telework at 20 percent or more, especially for vulnerable populations, and cloth face coverings are required at the Pentagon when social distancing cannot be maintained.
Before going into the office each day, DoD employees are asked to take their temperatures and be prepared for random temperature and question screening at the door.
The Secretary of Defense moved forward with further reopening of NCR facilities based on a two-week downward trajectory of COVID cases and symptoms, a lack of evidence that the virus would rebound in the area, robust healthcare and testing capabilities nearby, and a sufficient amount of cleaning supplies, following the lifting of mandatory stay-at-home orders within a 50-mile radius of the Pentagon.
DoD noted that Armed Forces Retirement Home campuses will remain at the “highest level of protection” to protect vulnerable residents.
