The National Public Health Emergency Team has said there are still no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Ireland.
It says advanced plans are in place to get ready to deal with public emergencies such as this, like it had with previous incidents such as pandemic influenza, SARS and MERS.
It says the aim of these plans at this point is one of containment.
This seeks to maximise the chance of a case being detected should one arise here, and to prevent it being transmitted to another person.
It comes as a man in the Philippines has become the first person to die from the coronavirus outside of China.
He was 44, and had arrived into the country from the affected city of Wuhan 12 days ago.
There have been more than 300 fatalities in China so far.
The National Public Health Emergency Team said in a recent statement:
"The WHO has declared the novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) as a public health emergency of international concern. This designation will strengthen support from the WHO to the Chinese authorities in their response.
"This declaration was anticipated based on the ongoing assessment of the National Public Health Emergency Team. The declaration emphasises the importance of the preparedness and plans that are already in place in Ireland.
"Ireland will continue to monitor the situation and to participate in the international assessment of response to this novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) through the European Centre for disease control and the WHO.
"Ireland is well positioned to detect and respond to a case of the novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that might arise here. As yet there have been no confirmed cases in Ireland."
