Penneys has asked the majority of staff at its Dublin headquarters to work from home on Friday.

The retailer says this is to test its operational readiness and IT capability in case it needs to close the office temporarily.

It says this testing is part of contingency planning, as it continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation.

It adds that its stores remain open and it is business as usual.

Penneys, which trades as Primark outside of Ireland, says it has not had any cases of the virus among employees.

A Primark spokesperson says: "In order to test our operational readiness and IT capability should a situation arise where we need to temporarily close one of our offices, we have asked the majority of our employees in our Dublin headquarters and Reading office to work remotely on Friday 6th March.

"We have not had any cases of COVID-19 amongst our employees."

Last month, the owner of Penneys warned that it could see supply shortages on some lines later this year due to the coronavirus.

Associated British Foods said: "The effect on supply chains for businesses dependent on Chinese sourcing continues to evolve.

"A number of our food businesses have operations in China."

"Primark sources a broad assortment of its product from China.

"We typically build inventories in advance of Chinese New Year and, as a consequence, are well stocked with cover for several months and do not expect any short-term impact.

"We are working closely with our suppliers in China to assess the impact on their factories and supply chains and their ability to fulfil our current orders."

But it added: "If delays to factory production are prolonged, the risk of supply shortages on some lines later this financial year increases.

"We are assessing mitigating strategies, including a step up in production from existing suppliers in other regions."

Primark also operates in the UK, Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, France, Italy, Slovenia and the US.

Its headquarters is based in Dublin city centre.