Gyeonggi Health and Environment Research Institute Introduces Rapid Testing for Novel Coronavirus

Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has introduced a 'rapid test' that can confirm test results for the novel coronavirus (Wuhan pneumonia) within 6 to 8 hours.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Institute of Health and Environment announced on the 31st that it has introduced a rapid test that significantly shortens the time to confirm infection status of the novel coronavirus infection.

The Institute received technology transfer from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from this day onward will conduct tests for the novel coronavirus infection using the faster and more accurate 'real-time RT-PCR' method.

The newly applied testing method allows positive confirmation with one test within 6 to 8 hours, enabling a quicker response to the novel coronavirus infection in the province.

The existing 'conventional RT-PCR' method took up to 1 to 2 days for testing as it checked for other coronaviruses besides the novel coronavirus.

Yoon Mi-hye, director of the Provincial Institute of Health and Environment, explained, "Through the rapid test method for the novel coronavirus infection, we will perform the fastest possible testing and response to do our best to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in the province," adding, "The daily testing capacity will also increase about twofold from the previous 80 tests to 160 tests."

The Institute expanded its emergency response team from 8 to 23 members to respond quickly to the rapidly increasing number of subjects under investigation after the Lunar New Year holiday.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.