Irish citizens are being advised to avoid non-essential travel to China.
The update in travel advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs comes as the death toll from the coronavirus there has risen to 132.
The total number of confirmed cases has reached just shy of 6,000.
This makes it more widespread on the mainland than the notable SARS outbreak of 2002 and 2003.
Wuhan is the epicentre of the virus and was placed under lockdown by the Chinese government, prompting other countries - including Ireland - to consider evacuating their nationals from the city.
The Irish consulate in Hong Kong says its public counter will be open on an 'appointments only' basis until further notice.
In the interest of public safety. The public counter in the Consulate will be open on an appoinments only service until further notice. Contact hongkong@dfa.ie for appointments.
— Ireland in Hong Kong (@IrelandinHK) January 29, 2020
The Department of Foreign Affairs says it continues to closely monitor the situation in China, and is in ongoing contact with the Chinese authorities and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
It says: "In Hubei, where the situation is still developing, increasingly strong containment measures are coming online.
"Travel within the province has become tightly controlled and all tourist facilities have been closed.
"Under these circumstances, travellers are advised against visiting the province of Hubei.
"The advice of the embassy of Ireland is to reconsider non-essential travel to and within China at this time, as citizens may be affected by increased containment measures, which can include a ban on movement within and between cities in China.
"If you feel that you may want to leave China soon, you should consider making plans to do so before any further restrictions may be imposed."
The department and the Irish embassy in Beijing is in ongoing contact with EU member states.
It has previously said that it is "exploring options, including commercial options, for assisting Irish citizens to leave Hubei Province, if required".
Separately, the embassy of China in Ireland says it has taken a number of measures in response to the ongoing outbreak.
They are advising any Chinese students or employees now in China to postpone any unnecessary travel, while any members of the Chinese community here are also being advised not to travel to China for now.
The embassy also says they remain in close contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Students
In a statement on Wednesday, Dublin City University (DCU) says it is advising all its students based in China for the current academic year "to return to Ireland to complete semester two back in DCU".
The university says they are now "making all appropriate arrangements to facilitate this".
Their statement adds: "A small number of staff and students have visited China in the past month (none of them were in the Hubei region).
"As a precaution, all of these individuals have been advised of current WHO coronavirus guidelines. None of them have reported any symptoms."
Meanwhile, the UK carrier British Airways has suspended all flights to mainland China.
The airline, which operates daily flights to Shanghai and Beijing from London, has also suspended bookings on its website until March.
There are currently no direct flights to China from Ireland.
