BRUSSELS, March 4. /TASS/. The European Commission, the European Parliament and the EU Council will limit their public activities and restrict access to buildings after the confirmed coronavirus case, a source in European institutions told reporters on Wednesday.
"I can confirm that there is a first confirmed coronavirus case among employees of European institutions. The number of public activities and the access to buildings of the institutions [the European Commission, the European Parliament and the EU Council — TASS]," will be limited," the source said.
A pneumonia outbreak caused by the COVID-19 virus (previously known as 2019-nCoV) was reported in China’s Wuhan, a large trade and industrial center with a population of 11 million, in late December. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, describing it as an epidemic with multiple locations. Besides China, major coronavirus outbreaks have been reported in South Korea, Iran and Italy. More than 80 countries and territories, including Russia, have reported confirmed coronavirus cases.
In China, which accounts for the majority of the novel coronavirus cases, the death toll is nearing 3,000, while almost 80,000 people have been infected and another 50,000 have recovered. According to the WHO, the number of coronavirus sufferers outside China has exceeded 10,500 and more than 160 have died.