South Korean test kit makers swamped as coronavirus cases explode in U.S., Europe

FILE PHOTO: Materials for a rapid test kit for coronavirus (COVID-19) are displayed at a laboratory in Ankara, Turkey, March 21, 2020. Turkish Health Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) - Last year, South Korean biotech firm SolGent made diagnostic kits for 300,000 tests. Today, it is churning out more than that in a week, and production will further rise to 400,000 coronavirus tests next week.

That's still not fast enough to meet surging demand for the kits from all over the world, especially the United States and Europe, where the coronavirus outbreak is spreading explosively, SolGent CEO You Jae-hyung told Reuters.