Technology put to the test to reduce outbreak

The latest technology is being made available in the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak in China, with Zhongguancun Science Park in Beijing releasing a list of 138 new technologies and products including temperature reading devices and intelligent robots.

The technologies are closely related to epidemic control and can help in virus detection, clinical treatment, medical protection, intelligent diagnosis and outbreak analysis.

According to the park, a new nucleic acid testing reagent developed by Bestnovo has been donated to Hubei and Zhejiang provinces and Chongqing, and some designated medical institutions in Beijing.

OrionStar's intelligent robots are currently operating in Peking University Shougang Hospital. They can help guide patients, respond to inquires and provide remote diagnosis and treatment. The robots can also help deliver laboratory test reports and drugs to reduce the workload for medical staff and avoid human-to-human transmission.

An emergency supplies management system developed by Kingsoft Cloud is being used by multiple regional governments for distribution, reports, counting and approval of medical necessities such as face masks, disinfectant and detection products.

In Beijing, an intelligent temperature measurement and analysis system uses artificial intelligence and infrared thermal imaging for busy spaces such as airports, railway stations and subway stations.

In Haidian district, a real-time monitoring and warning system to detect people with fever and track their locations is in trial use.

An online medical platform for novel coronavirus infection, jointly developed by local government and 11 tech companies such as Baidu, AliHealth and JD Health, can quickly classify questions from the public, link targeted doctors and enable fast responses.

Since being put into operation on Feb 1, the platform now has more than 4,600 doctors, according to the Beijing Science and Technology Commission.

The Beijing government released 10 policies on Feb 5 aimed at accelerating the application of scientific and technological research that helps in the prevention and control of the outbreak. The aim is to meet the urgent demand for rapid diagnostic testing, a vaccine, intelligent body temperature measurement and online medical consultancy, according to Xu Qiang, director of the Beijing Science and Technology Commission.