DUBAI: Abu Dhabi boosted its large-scale testing capacity for coronavirus after a laboratory was built and made operational at Masdar City in just 14 days. The laboratory, set up through a partnership technology company Group 42 and the Chinese genomics firm BGI, is capable of conducting by the thousands real time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (real time RT-PCR), one of the most accurate laboratory methods for detecting, tracking and studying the coronavirus. The laboratory will utilize BGI’s widely-approved diagnostic kits for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease The new processing capacity will enable a rapid response by accelerating the diagnosis, identification of suspected cases, the release of recovered patients, and the screening of close contacts and high-risk groups, state news agency WAM reported. The laboratory will prioritize testing within the UAE but could scale up to receive samples from neighboring regions.