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Escambia County has its first confirmed case of the coronavirus, according to the Florida Department of Heath.

An Escambia County man is the first case confirmed in the county, The Escambia County case, along with four other new cases statewide that were announced Monday evening, bringing the total number of cases up to 160 in Florida.

The case is travel related.

Earlier Monday afternoon, Escambia County announced it would be activating its Emergency Operations Center and declaring a local state of emergency.

"We are proactively activating the EOC and declaring a local state of emergency to ensure we have the appropriate resources for this unprecedented event, " Escambia County Emergency Manager Eric Gilmore said in a county press release. "We encourage the public to follow CDC guidance for social distancing and proper health and hygiene to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Escambia County."

Escambia County officials had previously said once there is a confirmed case in the county, the county would activate its emergency operations center.

"I feel very confident that we are taking the appropriate actions by pursuing a local state of emergency and moving to Level 2 activation, so that we can start working on a coordinated response and then recovery process with all of our community partners," County Administrator Janice Gilley told the News Journal.

Escambia County officials, along with its emergency partners, will hold a briefing at 8 a.m. Tuesday

Jim Little can be reached at jwlittle@pnj.com and 850-208-9827.