State government workers in New Jersey soon will be allowed to work from home in an effort to minimize the impact of the coronavirus, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Sunday.

Murphy said during a telephone briefing with reporters that employees will not be mandated to work from home. But the state is requiring each government department to institute its own work-from-home plan by Wednesday, the governor said. The plans will vary by department, he said.

Alexandra Altman, a spokeswomen for the governor’s office, said this applies to all state workers, whether they be deemed essential or non-essential.

“However, some essential employees cannot work from home, though, so they will continue to come to work,” Altman added.

The state government has 64,000 employees, including many essential workers, like State Police troopers.

Murphy also said Sunday he planned to announce Monday he is ordering a statewide shutdown of all schools, public and private.

Murphy and other state officials continuously have pressed New Jerseyans to practice “social distancing” and staying home to reduce the spread of the virus. He said the state government must practice the same.

“We have to walk the talk,” Murphy said. “When we say to the business community, working from home is a huge preference right now, we have to be living that as state government.”

New Jersey has seen at least 98 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Sunday, including two deaths, state officials announced.

Murphy’s administration announced this past Tuesday that state workers who are diagnosed with the virus or in self-quarantine or isolation because they may have been exposed to it can miss work without having to use sick time.

The guidelines from the state Civil Service Commission also allow employees to stay home without sick leave to care for a family member who has been diagnosed with or possibly exposed to the virus.

And the guidelines say state workers are allowed to stay home if their child’s school or daycare center has been closed because of the virus. Department leaders will determine whether those employees can work from home, and if that can’t be arranged, the workers will not be required to use sick leave during that time.

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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

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