The EU institutions in Brussels have been hit by their first confirmed case of coronavirus, as authorities in the Belgian capital step up precautionary measures to fight the virus, the Independent reported.

A staff member at the European Defence Agency has contracted the disease, according to an internal email reported by the website Euractiv. 

The EDA staff member is reported to have returned from a trip to Italy last week, before falling ill at the weekend.

The member of staff is said to have attended a four-hour long meeting with roughly 30 officials from other EU institutions – prompting the possibility of further contagion.

A member of the European External Affairs Service (EEAS) who attended the meeting has started experiencing symptoms and is awaiting test results. Other participants in the meeting have also been to other meetings and travelled.

The alert comes a day after the European Parliament closed its doors to visitors as a precautionary measure, cancelling dozens of events.

MEPs and their staff are however still planning to follow through on their regular visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg later this month. 

The parliament is reportedly considering videoconferencing technology to allow any quarantined MEPs to participate in debates.

The European institutions will however face perhaps their biggest virus control test so far at the end of this month, when the European Council will host a summit of 28 member states. 

On 26 and 27 March leaders, government officials, diplomats and journalists from the 27 EU member states and further afield will converge on two buildings in the city for the quarterly meeting. 

Speaking at the start of the week Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, announced the creation of a rapid response team at EU level to help coordinate the response to the virus.

"We have a situation that is very complex and it requires on the one side, very swift action and on the other side, a strong coordination at all the levels and all the different sectors – not only on the European level but of course on the national level," she said. 

"And then, a very comprehensive and coherent approach towards the topic from all 27 Member States and the European Union".

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