A man was escorted off a flight at Dublin Airport last night after displaying possible signs of coronavirus.
Passengers on board a flight from Moscow say they were kept on the plane for two hours whilst medics in hazmat suits took the man off the aircraft.
The HSE say they have "protocol in place" to activate any plan at ports of entry into Ireland.
The National Public Health Emergency Team said this morning that it has advanced plans in place to get ready to deal with public emergencies such as this.
These plans are similar to those implemented during 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.
Meanwhile, three Irish people remain in quarantine in England after more than 80 people were brought to the UK from the affected city of Wuhan.
The number of people who have died from the virus has now risen to over 300, while there are almost 14,400 confirmed cases in China.
A man died from the coronavirus in the Philippines in what is the first reported death from the illness outside of China, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.
'I have my life there'
An Irishman evacuated from the city where the outbreak began says he will return to Wuhan when it is safe to do so.
Ben Kavanagh was flown to a quarantine centre in Liverpool on Friday but he says his life is still in Wuhan.
He said: "I have my job there, I have my life there.
"We can only bring a 15kg bag, which is just a big hand luggage bag really.
"I left my entire life back in my apartment, I have a job and students that I need to finish teaching this year so I have to go back as soon as possible."
