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State forms new workgroup to advise governor on return to offices

"New office" by Phillie Casablanca is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

The state labor department has formed a new work group to advise the governor on best standards and practices for a phased in return to in-person work in offices.

The group of business, labor and public health leaders will meet weekly starting Thursday. Current restrictions say workers who can feasibly work from home must do so.

Sean Egan  is the COVID-19 safety director for the state labor department.

“Remote work as it relates to office work in particular is probably the greatest mitigation tool that we have," said Egan. "When we start bringing people back together that's when we have challenges cutting the chain of transmission.”

Egan says the restrictions will likely be extended for 6 months after their mid-April expiration. But he says they could be modified at any time as vaccination and case rates change.