China can conduct 1.5 million nucleic acid tests for COVID-19 per day, says official

China is able to conduct 1.5 million nucleic acid tests for COVID-19 infections every day, a health official said on Saturday at a press conference here, stressing that testing capabilities need to improve further as work and production resumes, Xinhua news agency reported.

The National Health Commission has called on all qualified and registered medical institutions across the country to conduct nucleic acid testing since the end of January to deal with the rapid growth of COVID-19 cases, said Guo Yanhong, an official with the commission.

The next step is to step up the building and management of laboratories, biosafety management and the training of medical personnel, the official added.

The Chinese mainland reported six new imported cases of the coronavirus disease, which brought the total number of imported cases to 1,698, the National Health Commission said Saturday.

( With inputs from ANI )