BGI to build 2 labs to help Serbia fight COVID-19

Representatives from Shenzhen’s BGI, Tencent and Mammoth Foundation attend a virtual agreement-signing ceremony between BGI and the Serbian Government in Shenzhen on Wednesday. Online ceremonies were held simultaneously in China’s Shenzhen, Changsha and Beijing and Serbia’s Belgrade. As per the agreement, BGI will set up two coronavirus testing labs in the European country. BGI

The Shenzhen-based global genomics leader BGI will build two COVID-19 testing labs in Serbia to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an agreement it signed with the Serbian Government on Wednesday.

The two “most modern, new” Fire Eye labs — one in its capital Belgrade and the other in the southern city of Nis — will add a combined daily testing capacity of 3,000 samples to Serbia, said Prime Minister Ana Brnabic at the signing ceremony in Belgrade. They are BGI’s first such labs in Europe.

The additional testing capacity will more than triple Serbia’s current capability, according to a press release by the Serbian Government.

Branislav Nedimovic, minister of agriculture, forestry and water management, signed the deal with Zhu Yanmei, executive director of the BGI Group, and Li Ning, BGI vice president, via a video conference.

The lab in Belgrade in the Clinical Center of Serbia has already been adapted and will start working in several days, while the other one in Nis, the third-largest Serbian city, will be built in 45 days, Brnabic said at the ceremony.

“This is only a part of the enormous support in technology, protective equipment, ventilators, knowledge, and expert assistance that we [have] received from China so far during this struggle [against COVID-19],” she said.

“Without such support and assistance, Serbia wouldn’t be so successful in fighting COVID-19. Without your knowledge and assistance, Serbia wouldn’t be able to resist this disease,” she added.

Chinese Ambassador to Serbia, Chen Bo, while attending the signing ceremony at the Palace of Serbia, said Chinese technicians and equipment will arrive in Serbia in the next few days.

“I am sure that the construction of these laboratories will strengthen the testing capacities and will play a significant role in Serbia’s fight against the virus,” she said.

She pledged that the embassy will “help both the Serbian and Chinese sides to have these laboratories constructed as soon as possible.”

Wang Jian, co-founder and chairman of the BGI Group, said at the signing ceremony in Shenzhen that early screening and detection is crucially important in COVID-19 prevention and control. The company is glad to cooperate with the Serbian Government to build a high-throughput test platform with rapid, accurate testing capabilities on a massive scale.

Shenzhen Mammoth Foundation, Tencent and BGI donated key instruments for the laboratories.

Serbia reported its first COVID-19 case March 6 and declared a state of emergency 10 days later.

Serbia has so far confirmed 2,666 cases after testing 10,761 people.

Since the outbreak in China, BGI has built 13 such laboratories across China, which later proved to be one of the most important steps in China’s strategy in fighting against the novel coronavirus.

BGI established Fire Eye labs in the United Arab Emirates and Brunei earlier this month and are building more in other countries. Its real-time fluorescent COVID-19 testing kits have been ordered by more than 70 countries and regions worldwide.