Inflatable lab lifts capacity for virus testing in city

An inflatable laboratory that started operation late last month in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, is increasing the city's capacity for nucleic acid testing as it battles a COVID-19 outbreak.

The site, known as the "falcon cube laboratory", provides quick and high-quality testing and tracks key groups of people by using advanced technologies. It can complete testing for more than 1.8 million samples a day.

By quickly screening people suspected of being infected with the novel coronavirus, the lab will play a key role in controlling the outbreak, according to a statement released by KingMed Diagnostics Group, the parent company of lab operator Nanjing KingMed.

Li Huiyuan, vice-president of KingMed, said the lab can be easily erected and moved and is lightweight. It also follows strict disinfection procedures in accordance with regulations, Li said.

Nanjing's health authorities said the formation of a strong nucleic acid testing capacity needed to be accelerated to help screen suspected patients and asymptomatic carriers, block transmission chains and bring the COVID-19 outbreak under control as quickly as possible.

The lab was erected in Nanjing's Youth Olympic Games Cultural Sports Park by Guangzhou KingMed, the National Center of Respiratory Medicine and the Guangzhou Laboratory, which is led by Zhong Nanshan, a prominent respiratory disease expert.

Such labs have previously proved effective in screening suspected patients and asymptomatic carriers in the provinces of Guangdong, Hebei and Yunnan.