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BALLWIN, Mo. – St. Louis County has activated its emergency operations center in response to coronavirus.

While there are still no confirmed cases in St. Louis County, authorities say five people are being monitored for potential infection.

They have not been hospitalized but authorities say they remain isolated at home.

It is considered a partial activation of the EOC, which is in Ballwin. People from the county health department, emergency management, police, fire, and EMS are now staffing the center. They are coordinating real-time information from all of the major medical centers in the area as researchers elsewhere continue to look for treatments and a vaccine.

The EOC’s main objectives are containment and prevention, along with hammering home the message about simple things like handwashing and covering coughs. Precisely tracking and isolating the virus are critical.

“The last thing we want in emergency management ever is for each of the entities to be working in silos and not communicating. That’s where you have things falling between the cracks; people falling between the cracks,” said St. Louis County Acting Emergency Management Director Michele Ryan.

Anyone with questions about coronavirus or suspicions of infection can call the EOC hotline at 314-615-2660 or visit www.STLcorona.com.