Cutting-edge technologies to help battle coronavirus epidemic

Many companies are working behind the scenes to develop and apply cutting-edge technologies to fight the coronavirus outbreak. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)

Many companies are working behind the scenes to develop and apply cutting-edge technologies to fight the coronavirus outbreak. State-Owned China National Building Material Group Co Ltd is one of those.

Infrared thermometer lenses for abnormal temperature inspection, 5.0 neutral borosilicate glass tube for vaccine storing, flat sheet ceramic membrane for medical wastewater treatment…they are just a handful of equipment the company is working on.

The company's move aligned with the call from State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the regulator of SOEs, to prevent the virus from spreading further while ensuring a stable production and operation to support the country's economic development.

Infrared thermometer lenses, an equipment used for screening inspections on people and selecting those who have abnormal temperature, are useful to reduce the risk of cross-infection in public places, according to the group.

To date, the group's subsidiary China Building Materials Academy Glass Science Institute has supplied 800 sets of high-resolution infrared thermometer lenses for screening inspections to cities including Wuhan, Chengdu, and Guangzhou.

The group said those infrared thermometer lenses can detect people's temperature quickly and precisely, ranging from minus 20 Celsius degrees to 120 Celsius degrees with deviation controlled between minus 0.3 Celsius degrees to 0.3 Celsius degrees.

CNBM's production of 5.0 neutral borosilicate glass tube is used for virus vaccine storing and packaging. Its subsidiary Triumph Junheng Co Ltd has produced about 10 million units for vaccine research and development centers across the country.

CNBM's production of 5.0 neutral borosilicate glass tube is used for virus vaccine storing and packaging. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)

The group's flat sheet ceramic membrane and related equipment, effective in containing particles, colloid, and microorganism, is essential for medical wastewater handling system, according to CNBM. The group's subsidiary Shandong Industrial Ceramic Research &Design Institute Co Ltd has stepped up production to supply for hospitals and medical centers across the country.

Zhou Yuxian, chairman of CNBM, said the company will pay close attention to changing demand from the market and the reactions of companies from the upstream and downstream supply chain, under the premise that the company will roll out measures to prevent workplace contagion and to ensure their staff's safety.

To date, central SOEs are resuming work in batches in an orderly manner while preventing workplace contagion, which is important to both economic development and epidemic control, according to SASAC.

Up to Feb 19, more than 80 percent of over 20,000 manufacturing subsidiaries under the 96 central SOEs have resumed production, data from SASAC show.