Virus test kit orders surging

Experts say accuracy rates may reach 80-90%

Demand for made-in-China COVID-19 test kits has surged as countries around the world conduct large-scale nucleic acid and antibody screening to bring the deadly virus in check, pushing domestic companies to increase production capacity.

Experts also clarified that made-inChina test kits, whether nucleic acid or antibody tests, have high accuracy rates of 80 or even 90 percent, refuting doubts by some overseas media about the accuracy of made-in-China test kits.

Guo Xiaoling, marketing manager at Shanghai-based coronavirus testkits manufacturer BioGerm Medical Biotechnology Co, told the Global Times that recent popularization of COVID-19 self-testing has led to an increase in domestic and export orders for the company’s kits.

“We have expanded our production capacity from 150,000-200,000 kits per day to about 300,000 to fill the surging orders,” she told the Global Times.

She added that BioGerm’s coronavirus testing kits have recently obtained a market access permit in Brazil and might soon be shipped there, though exports only account for a tiny portion of the company’s sales.

A representative at Sansure Biotech, a maker of test kits based in Central China’s Hunan Province, told the Global Times that export and domestic orders have increased, without giving the actual numbers.

Sansure’s kits have been exported to more than 80 countries and regions, and the company has received urgent orders from dozens of markets, including France, Italy and Spain.

Genomics giant BGI has also received tens of millions of export orders for coronavirus test kits, with products being shipped to more than 80 countries and regions including Japan, Thailand and Egypt, according to a statement the company sent to the Global Times on Thursday.

Lü Mengtao, a veteran in the medical equipment industry, said that it’s necessary for other countries to import test kits from China, considering their urgent need and China’s large manufacturing capacity.

Orders are rising as many governments, including China, carry out large-scale coronavirus and antibody screening of their citizens.

So far, 29 types of coronavirus test kits offered by 25 Chinese companies have been approved with a total daily production capacity of 5 million. Production is basically normal and inventories are relatively adequate, according to Huang Libin, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Experts clarified that the accuracy of China’s coronavirus test kits has no problems, though some overseas media reports have said that made-inChina kits have low accuracy rates.

“Currently, made-in-China testing kits, whether for nucleic acid or antibodies, have an accuracy rate of 80 or even 90 percent. The technology is not very difficult, and Chinese companies don’t differ much from overseas makers in manufacturing techniques,” Lü said, adding that some overseas users might not have used the kits correctly.