'Blue Armor' the latest weapon to protect community

Mobile nucleic acid testing vehicles have been used at Minhang's central quarantine sites to provide a daily testing volume of 3,600 bottles per vehicle.

Two automatic mobile nucleic acid testing vehicles able to both sample and show test results have been deployed at Minhang Stadium, one of the district's central quarantine sites.

The vehicles, nicknamed "Blue Armor," were developed by Shanghai ZJ Bio-Tech Co.

After receiving the samples, they are able to automatically extract, mix and amplify nucleic acid, and produce one round of testing results in about three hours.

"Blue Armor is nimble and flexible. It stops at one place and can launch tests immediately. One vehicle is about the size of an ambulance," said Liu Zhenhua, chief technician of the laboratory medicine department at Minhang Central Hospital.

"One vehicle is able to process 1,800 bottles daily. Suppose we choose the 10-people mixing test mode, one car is able to test 18,000 people," said Liu. "Compared with traditional manual testing, the vehicles are smarter and more efficient."