The Health Service Executive said there is no confirmed case of coronavirus COVID-19 in Ireland.
It said GPs, hospitals, the National Ambulance Service and public health specialists have managed a significant number of suspect cases to date - 78 up to last Monday.
The HSE said the virus is being made a notifiable disease here and the situation is being monitored closely.
The Minister for Health today signed the 'Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations 2020' to include Covid-19 on the existing list of notifiable diseases.
This means doctors will be obliged to routinely inform the Health Service Executive when a case of the virus is diagnosed.
Minister Simon Harris said: "Ireland is well positioned to detect and respond to a case of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) that might arise here.
"This measure, to include Covid-19 on the list of notifiable diseases, is common practice when dealing with a newly emerging infectious disease. This was also done for the SARS epidemic in 2002."
Dr Sarah Doyle, specialist in public health medicine, said the virus is new, it is an evolving situation and a lot is still unknown.
At a HSE briefing, she said the concern here would be the late identification of a case, with potential widespread transmission, due to cases presenting late, or cases not aware that they are at risk.
Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, Dr. Tony Holohan said: "Ireland's public health response to Covid-19 remains unchanged. We are in a containment phase. Anyone returning from China in the last 14 days, and experiencing symptoms associated with Covid-19 (Coronavirus), is instructed to self- isolate and contact the health service via phone or email."
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