EDMONTON -- An order sent to provincial employees Sunday to "report to their normal workplace as per usual," unless they were sick or had childcare conflicts on Monday was updated Tuesday afternoon to allow thousands more public servants to work from home.

The change came after Premier Jason Kenney declared a state of public health emergency as COVID-19 continued to spread in Alberta.

On Sunday, Deputy Minister of Executive Council Ray Gilmour sent email to provincial employees asking them to come into the office, if they could.

"If you need to miss work on Monday due to childcare, you should stay at home. Beyond Monday, we encourage you to look for options, talk to your manager, and develop a plan. Depending on your individual circumstances and the needs of your work unit, this could include working from home,” Gilmour's letter, obtained by CTV News Edmonton read.

“The Public Service Commission will be issuing further guidance in the coming days. All others are expected to report to their normal workplace as per usual,” the statement continued.

Public health officials had already been encouraging people to stay home, if possible, in a public effort to control the spread of coronavirus.

Tuesday afternoon, Gilmour sent another email, updating the provinces directive.

"Government employees should be prepared to start to work from home where operationally feasible. Individual departments will establish work schedules that ensure that all critical, frontline services continue to be delivered to Albertans," Gilmour wrote in another email shared with CTV News Edmonton.

Premier Jason Kenney was asked about the original email during his press briefing at the Legislature, prior to the second email from Gilmour.

“We can't shut down the entire economy, and we can’t shut down the entire government," Kenney said, adding that they were looking into allowing more employees to work from home.

"About half of the people employed through the Alberta public service deliver front-line services. So it’s precisely at a time like this the government cannot shut down, it has to continue to provide those services."

It was not clear how many provincial employees would now be working from home, but AUPE represents 96,000 members.

CTV News Edmonton reached out to AUPE for comment but did not receive an immediate response.