The Department of Health has said that Ireland is "well placed to detect and respond" to any cases of coronavirus that might arise here.

The virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Since then, almost 10,000 people have become infected in 25 different countries, and over 200 have died. However, the vast majority of cases and all of these deaths have occurred in China.

While only a handful of cases have been detected in Europe, it has been confirmed that two of these cases are in England.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the virus a public health emergency of international concern.

The Department of Health has insisted that Ireland has "comprehensive public health and emergency plans in place for responding to public health issues, including those related to new infection agents, such as this new coronavirus".

"These are up to date and rehearsed. These frameworks have been used in the past to manage emergencies such as the swine flu pandemic, Storms Emma and Ophelia, SARS and Ebola.

"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," it said.

For more information on coronavirus, click here.