Employees with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention work at the Emergency Operations Center in Atlanta on Thursday, February 13.
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Inside the CDC's coronavirus war room

Updated 5:45 PM ET, Thu February 13, 2020

Employees with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention work at the Emergency Operations Center in Atlanta on Thursday, February 13.
Will Lanzoni/CNN

With the novel coronavirus continuing to make headlines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention invited the media inside its state-of-the-art Emergency Operations Center on Thursday.

This is where CDC experts monitor information 24 hours a day, and not just about the coronavirus. They also respond to other outbreaks and public health emergencies such as hurricanes, earthquakes and oil spills.

The 24,000-square-foot facility seats up to 230 people at a time.

Jay Butler, the CDC's deputy director for infectious diseases, speaks to reporters.
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A clock shows different time zones in the Emergency Operations Center.
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A CDC employee works on his computer.
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The center is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
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Ed Rouse, the senior advisor for the CDC's Division of Emergency Operations, speaks to reporters in Atlanta.
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Many of the employees are monitoring the coronavirus outbreak, but that's not all they are monitoring.
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CDC employees work at the Emergency Operations Center.
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A look inside the main conference room at the Emergency Operations Center.
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