The Defense Department's mandatory and voluntary work-from-home push this week to protect the workforce from the COVID-19 virus is straining IT systems, even as the government is asking employees to make modifications to limit their consumption of network resources.

The Joint Force Headquarters for Department of Defense Information Networks (JFHQ-DODIN) has already begun blocking streaming websites such as YouTube, Netflix and Pandora, and it may block social media sites too “to maximize operational bandwidth available for COVID-19 response,” reads a message from the Navy's Information Dominance Directorate (OPNAV N2/N6) and Fleet Cyber Command/ U.S. 10th Fleet.f