FEMA finds itself in uncharted waters with coronavirus

When a staffer working at Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) headquarters tested positive for the coronavirus late last month, agency leadership set about informing those who may have been exposed.

FEMA leaders gathered others working on the same floor as the infected individual and put them in a room standing “shoulder to shoulder,” according to an official familiar with the episode, exasperating some who worried about crowding people together when the government was urging the public to practice social distancing.

The handling of the positive test underscores the unusual position FEMA finds itself in as the lead agency in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading.