The UK government has pledged £30 billion ($38.22 billion) to soften the impact of COVID-19, as concerns rise over the shock waves the outbreak will send through the economy.

Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (the UK's finance minister), in his maiden budget speech on Wednesday, unveiled a multi-billion dollar stimulus plan to counter the fallout of the global coronavirus contagion as the UK braces for a major outbreak of the virus.

Warning of a significant but temporary impact on the British economy, which could see "up to a fifth of the working age population" off work at any one time, Sunak vowed to "get through this together."

"I know how worried people are, worried about their health, the health of their loved ones, their jobs, their income, their businesses, their financial security," he said. "And I know they get even more worried when they turn on their TVs and hear talk of markets collapsing and difficult times coming."

The 39-year-old, who has been in the job for only a month, announced a raft of measures that included relief to businesses facing a cash-flow crunch, allowing companies and the self-employed to defer tax payments and the relaxation of sick pay rules for workers and people on benefits.

The National Health Service (NHS), at the forefront of the battle against the virus, will receive an additional five billion pounds ($6.4 billion) after health chiefs predicted a massive spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

The opposition Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, while welcoming the measures, said the extra funds for the NHS were "too little, too late," while the UK stumbles into a medical emergency.

Britain is bracing for the coronavirus spreading at a rapid rate – potentially costing the economy billions in lost productivity and hundreds of thousands of people falling victim to the disease, especially the elderly and vulnerable.

Amid signs of a slowdown appearing in the economy, the Bank of England has cut its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 0.25 percent.

The Bank also introduced a new program for cheap credit and reduced a special capital buffer to give banks more room to lend.

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