First coronavirus case at EU council before ministers' emergency meetings

Mar 4, 2020 00:00 AM

By Reuters

A first case of coronavirus has been detected among staff at the Council of the European Union, a spokesman said on Wednesday, as ministers of the bloc’s 27 member states were to hold emergency meetings there.

General view of the European Defense Agency headquarters in Brussels (REUTERS)

The spokesman of the Council, which hosts ministerial meetings and EU summits and has a staff of 3,000, said the person, from the information security unit, was infected in Belgium.

EU home affairs ministers will gather in the Council building in Brussels later on Wednesday for an extraordinary meeting on the migration crisis at borders with Turkey.

On Friday, EU health ministers are expected to hold emergency talks in the same building on the response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The spokesman said these meetings would still go ahead, as there were no health risks for attendees. “There should be no disruption to the work of our institutions,” he said, adding that was in line with World Health Organization (WHO) protocols.

Earlier on Wednesday, another EU body, the European Defense Agency (EDA), reported a case of coronavirus among its staff.

The official had recently traveled to northern Italy.

An EU official said the two infected individuals had met in recent days, without giving further details.

“The staff member tested positive and is currently at home in self-isolation since symptoms appeared on Saturday evening. The individual has reported very light symptoms and not returned to the Agency since,” EDA said in a statement.