The 5th Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University began running nucleic acid and blood tests on out-of-towners from heavily afflicted epidemic areas on Feb 15 to identify anyone with corona virus disease (COVID-19) symptoms as soon as possible.

The adopted novel coronavirus IgM and IgG antibody test reagents (colloidal gold method) were developed by Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostics in Jinwan. They possess a high sensitivity to test subjects, offering a rapid, convenient, and economical solution for scaled screening in non-epidemic areas.

Doctor runs a test [Photo by Zhang Zhou / Guanhai App]

The incubation period of COVID-19 is understood to range from three to 14 days. Patients with mild symptoms only feel low-grade fever and slight fatigue, while showing no sign of pneumonia. Some infected patients without fever or other symptoms, however, could also spread the virus.  

Immune globulin IgM, the first specific antibody generated in the body's primary immune response, can be found in the serum of recently infected patients at an early stage. Immune globulin IgG, although showing up later than IgM, can stay in the serum for a longer period.

As of Feb 15, the hospital, which is located at 52 East Meihua Road, had run both nucleic acid and blood tests on 12 isolated people from Hubei Province, Wenzhou of Zhejiang Province, and other heavily afflicted epidemic areas. Test also were conducted at communities, enterprises, and hotels across the Gaolan Port Economic Zone, and included 650 blood checks.