Beijing inflatable laboratories assist nucleic acid testing

BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Three COVID-19 nucleic acid test laboratories named "Huoyan," or Fire Eye, have conducted more than 1 million tests in Beijing, Science and Technology Daily reported Monday.

The laboratories are located in the districts of Daxing, Xicheng and Shunyi, according to Xiang Fei, an official of Chinese biotech company BGI Genomics, the developer of the lab.

The inflatable laboratory in Daxing district was put into use on June 23 and upgraded to have 16 air-inflated film chambers by June 28. It can conduct 100,000 nucleic acid tests each day.

With high throughput nucleic acid testing ability, the mobile inflatable laboratory can respond rapidly to the epidemic.

The "Huoyan" laboratories have automated high-throughput viral nucleic acid extraction equipment to improve test efficiency. They have been deployed in 13 Chinese cities including Beijing and Wuhan, said Xiang.

From June 11 to July 5, Beijing reported 335 confirmed locally transmitted cases, 324 of whom are still hospitalized. There are 30 asymptomatic cases under medical observation, the municipal health commission said Monday.

More than 10.41 million residents in Beijing had received nucleic acid tests as of July 2 since the resurgence of domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases, local authorities said on July 3.