SEC tells employees to telework due to potential coronavirus case

The Securities and Exchange Commission late Monday told employees who work on the ninth floor of the agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters that they should telework due to a possible coronavirus infection.

“Out of an abundance of caution, effective immediately the SEC is requiring all Headquarters personnel (employees and contractors) who work on the 9th floor to telework,” the SEC told the employees in email, according to The Washington Post. 

The SEC is the first major federal employer to ask employers to work from home, according to The Post.

The newspaper also reports that the agency confirmed the move in an emailed statement:

“Even with increased telework, the SEC remains able and committed to fully executing its mission on behalf of investors, including monitoring market function and working closely with other regulators and market participants,” the statement explained. 

A SEC employee who may have the coronavirus had not been in the office since Thursday, and the person was not symptomatic at the office, according to the SEC's email to employees.

"To the best of our knowledge, the employee remained asymptomatic during the employee’s time in the building,” the email to employees also stated.

The news comes the same day the Dow Jones Industrial average plummeted over 2,000 points.