The California Department of Motor Vehicles remains open despite the novel coronavirus pandemic that has nearly a quarter of all Californians under orders to shelter-in-place.

The decision to stay open has both customers and DMV employees questioning how the department is protecting people from exposure to COVID-19. DMV employees and California residents sent multiple messages to McClatchy reporters on Wednesday describing full offices around the state.

“I just thought it was quite curious they were talking about social distancing,” said Jonah Hendler of Sacramento, who went to a DMV office on Broadway on Tuesday. “Realistically, if anybody had (COVID-19) and was touching stuff, if would have been everywhere.”

The DMV has taken certain steps to reduce the potential for community spread. Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked state law enforcement to grant motorists a 60-day grace period for expired licenses, which could allow Californians to postpone planned trips to the DMV.

The DMV also announced late Wednesday that the agency has immediately canceled all behind-the-wheel driving tests for the next 30 days. The DMV announced that in-office visits must be by appointment only to cut down on the amount of people in the office at a given time.

The state has also encouraged people to access DMV services online or through kiosks where possible.

“The DMV continues to monitor the situation and follow the advice of public health officials including social distancing in our field offices,” according to a DMV statement.

That’s not what Hendler saw when he went to the Broadway DMV. Hendler told The Sacramento Bee he had an appointment to turn in paperwork to get a California Real ID.

Hendler said that there were some concessions to safety precautions in light of COVID-19. As he arrived at the DMV, he was greeted by an employee wearing gloves. The DMV was only letting people into the building as others left, he said. Chairs were staggered about six feet apart.

But when Hendler got called to the counter, the DMV employee he spoke with was not wearing gloves. He was ordered to take his Real ID documents out of the plastic bags he kept them in, and the employee touched the documents without gloves.

Hendler also had to provide a thumb print from a scanner he said had not been wiped off. While waiting for his picture, three people stood directly behind him, in counter to recommendations from health officials that people maintain at least six feet of distance between each other during the outbreak. And Hendler had to use a pen that had not been wiped off.

Several current and former DMV employees reached out to The Sacramento Bee to voice their frustration with the DMV’s decision to remain open for business. One person wrote that leaving the DMV open, and crowded full of people, will put people’s lives at risk.

Another wrote that the “six-foot rule” doesn’t do anything to protect field workers or drive test examiners, who come into close proximity with customers.

Newsom’s administration late Tuesday released updated guidance on whether state workers can telecommute from home. The state has not announced any widespread closures of DMV offices.

This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Social distancing at the DMV: California offices open despite shelter-in-place orders."