A new nucleic acid test chip that can detect and distinguish six respiratory viruses, including the novel coronavirus, is now under mass production by a biotech company in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

The chip can detect the viruses all at once within 1.5 hours.

Each chip allows the detection of 16 samples in a single assay at the same time.

Currently, 24,000 test chips can be produced each day and 500 chip-analyzing devices manufactured each month, said the company's general manager.

More than 10 devices have been sent to the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan.

The virus chip is the result of joint work by experts from prestigious West China Hospital affiliated to Sichuan University, Tsinghua University in Beijing, and the Chengdu-based company.