Ms McDonald confirmed the cancelling of two Sinn Féin public meetings after it was announced that the school, Scoil Chaitríona in north Dublin, was to close for two weeks.

McDonald said it was a "very worrying time" for the school’s pupils, staff and particularly for the family of the child who contracted the virus.

Ms McDonald said she wanted to "stay close to home" and added that they were following all of the chief medical officers advice and "therefore the children have to be at home for the next 14 days.".

She also confirmed that she would be back at work today.

Hundreds of students at the Glasnevin secondary school were told to stay at home for two weeks after a student tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Parents received a letter from health officials saying the school had been shut with students and staff "put under active surveillance" until March 16.

The student is the second person in Ireland to be diagnosed with the virus and is being cared for in the isolation unit of the Mater Hospital in Dublin. He caught the disease during a mid-term visit to northern Italy.

The latest figures showed 89,068 confirmed cases of the illness globally, of whom 45,636 have recovered, 41,146 remain ill and 3,069 have perished.