The new emergency detection lab in Optics Valley of China stands ready to swing into action in the battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak, after being built in only seven days. [Photo/cnhubei.com]

An emergency detection lab for nucleic acid testing of the novel coronavirus -- constructed at the East Lake High-tech Development Zone in Wuhan -- opened for business on Feb 5 after taking only a week to build.

That's according to officials at the zone, widely known as Optics Valley of China, located in Wuhan, capital city of Hubei province and the epicenter of the outbreak in China.

According to local media reports, the lab could test over 10,000 samples per day.

On the morning of Feb 5, the lab officially launched and carried out nucleic acid test on 125 builders, and the results were issued in the afternoon on the same day to ensure the health of the construction personnel.

The current detection capacity for coronavirus nucleic acid samples in Hubei province is just more than 4,000 per day, far from meeting the detection needs.

Jointly constructed by Wuhan municipal government, Optics Valley of China, CCCC Second Harbor Engineering Company Ltd, Shanghai Nori Laboratory Equipment Co Ltd and BGI -- one of the world's leading life science and genomics organizations -- the laboratory covers an area of about 2,000 square meters

Since receiving the commission to build the facility on Jan 29, CCCC Second Harbor Engineering Company Ltd mobilized nearly 300 personnel, more than 20 vehicles and equipment from various units in Wuhan, officials said.

They added that the company completed the construction task of 2,000 square-meter high-standard and high-sealed negative pressure laboratory in only seven days.