Stay home. Avoid crowds. Work remotely. Keep at least six feet between you and other people. As the coronavirus tightens its grip, the pleas from health experts for people to limit face-to-face contact are growing ever more pointed and urgent.

And yet, even as workplaces and schools are being shut down across America, the federal government has been slow to shift to an emergency footing with its sprawling work force, breeding chaos and confusion — and endangering lives — in agencies and offices from coast to coast.

Despite having told workers weeks ago to prepare for a major shift to working remotely, few administration agencies have made more than minor adjustments, according to The Washington Post. Some offices, most notably those with employees who have tested positive for the virus, have sent workers home to telecommute. Others have instituted rotating schedules to limit crowding. Nonessential travel has been curtailed, and public tours canceled.

But unlike during other types of emergencies, there is little guidance about how agencies and departments should approach this pandemic. Only a small percentage of workers have been cleared to work from home, The Post noted, leaving a majority to continue crowding into cubicles and other work sites. Messaging from the top, specifically the Office of Management and Budget, has been at best muddled.