New lab begins testing for virus

The project began construction on Jan 29, according to the Second Harbor Engineering, which is affiliated with State-owned China Communications Construction.

Nearly 300 workers and more than 20 vehicles participated in the construction, it said.

Zhang Jin, an engineer in the company who was in charge of water supply and discharge for the lab, said a major challenge was to ensure polluted water produced during virus tests would not contaminate the surrounding environment. "To ensure safety, I repeatedly urged construction workers to follow instructions and carefully inspect all the pipelines during construction," he said.