U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper gestures as he speaks during a joint news conference with Britain's Secretary of State of Defence Ben Wallace after their meeting at Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., March 5, 2020. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Thursday he expected the Pentagon to be able to keep carrying out its core functions in the event of a coronavirus outbreak at the massive military headquarters, where 22,000 people work every day.

“We have a lot of capabilities in this building. Our National Military Command Center has the capability to go for weeks at a time if they have to be locked down inside the building if we have some type of outbreak,” Esper told a news conference.

“So, we’re fully confident that we can continue to perform the functions that the Pentagon needs to perform if we have some type of outbreak in the building.”