Veredus Laboratories, a Singapore biotech firm, has developed the VereCoV detection kit, a portable lab-on-chip application that can detect the Wuhan coronavirus.

Detect and differentiate three coronaviruses in one test

The kit is also capable of detecting the Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Coronavirus and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Coronavirus.

In a press release on Jan. 24, Veredus claimed the kit will be able to identify and differentiate all three viruses with "high specificity and sensitivity".

CEO of Veredus Laboratories, Rosemary Tan, explained that this will be one of the first commercially available kits in the world which can detect all three coronaviruses in a single test, within two hours.

In 2009, Veredus managed to update their VereFlu Influenza A/B detection kit to include the H1N1 virus within a few weeks from the time of the first outbreak.

According to The Business Times, the VereCoV kit will be commercially available by Feb. 1, 2020.

Wuhan virus continues to spread

Earlier today (Jan. 25), China’s National Health Commission confirmed that the Wuhan virus has claimed the lives of 41 people.

In addition, there are currently over 1,280 confirmed cases in China and 19 confirmed cases in other countries.

These countries include Malaysia, France, Australia, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, the United States and Nepal.

As of Jan. 24, Singapore has three confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus.

All three patients are Wuhan residents.

Top images via Wikipedia & Veredus Laboratories.