"It was Wednesday, March 11, when life began to turn upside down for Lee Householder and his 42 employees at Project:Homes, a nonprofit that does energy efficiency retrofits in Virginia.

The events of that day, like the National Basketball Association suspending its season and President Trump blocking travel from Europe, made the novel coronavirus very real and led workers to a crest of worry. They wanted to know the plan. The next day, March 12, 'was a very chaotic day of scrambling,' Householder said. 'How are we going to react?'

The plan that came was quick and absolute. 'No one's coming to work on Monday,' he told his staff.

And no one has been back."

David Ferris reports for Energywire April 8, 2020. [2]