The EU will set up a €25 billion economic rescue package in response to the coronavirus outbreak, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Tuesday. She said that €7.5 billion would be made available immediately to member countries.

President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said that governments of all 27 EU countries defined four priorities in tackling the epidemic which include containment, medical resources, investing in vaccine research, and offseting the damage that the outbreak is likely to cause for Europe's economies.

Since the outbreak started in China's Hubei province in December, close to 120,000 confirmed cases of infection have been confirmed globally, including nearly 4,300 deaths as of Wednesday.

In less than two months, the disease has reached all European countries, save from Montenegro and Kosovo. All 27 EU countries reported infections, with more than 17,000 cases across the bloc. Italy is by far the worst-hit country, reporting more than 10,100 cases and 631 deaths. Other countries with more than a thousand cases include France, Spain, and Germany.

The rapid spread of the disease and spike in cases has forced Italian government to out the entire country of 60 million people on lockdown earlier this week, imposing travel restrictions and banning public events.

Austria and Slovenia closed their borders with Italy on Tuesday. Croatia's flag carrier suspended flights to Rome, and the state-owned ferry company Jardolinija followed suit by suspending its cross-Adriatic ferry lines to Ancona and Bari on Wednesday.