EU announces €232 million COVID-19 aid package
By Ren Yan
People's Daily
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Janez Lenarcic, EU's Commissioner for Crisis Management, and Stella Kyriakidou, the Food Safety Commissioner announced the funding at a press conference in Brussels on February 24, 2020. (Source: AP)

Brussels (People’s Daily) -- The European Union (EU) announced on Monday an aid package worth 232 million euros to fight COVID-19.

The multi-million euro aid package includes 114 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) as part of its appeal for global readiness, €15 million for African partner countries to strengthen resilience and readiness, €100 million for vaccine and treatment research and €3 million to repatriate  EU citizens from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

"With more than 2,600 lives lost already and the epidemic has already affected 28 countries this is a global challenge and requires the cooperation of the entire international community," Janez Lenarcic, EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, said at a press conference.

"Our new aid package will support the World Health Organization and target funding to ensure countries with weaker health systems are not left behind. Our goal is to contain the outbreak at a global level," Lenarcic noted.

It comes as confirmed cases of the virus rose to 150 in Italy over the weekend, forcing authorities to temporarily close a train route to Austria, placing the bloc’s Schengen free movement area under strain.

The number of cases in Italy rose above 200 on Monday and a sixth person has reportedly died from the virus.

“It remains within the jurisdiction of the member states,” the commissioner said to reporters when addressing travel concerns. It would also be up to member states to decide on a possible return of border controls within Schengen, but for now, the EU Commission is not in favor of it.

It is essential to prioritize measures “that are proportional and based on a credible and scientific risk assessment,” Lenarcic added.

While the main EU priority is to stem the spread of the virus, “we should not panic,” Stella Kyriakides, EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said at the joint press conference.

"In view of the rapidly evolving situation, we stand ready to increase our assistance. In this vein, a joint expert mission of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization will depart to Italy this week to support the Italian authorities," she said.