The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said it would distribute a new diagnostic testing device to designated medical institutions on Friday.

The previous test took about 24 hours in two stages, but the improved “real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)” only requires six hours to detect the new coronavirus. Most municipal and provincial research institutions have used the enhanced device – called the PowerChek TM 2019-nCov RT-PCR kit --from last Friday.

As the KCDC approves and provides the testing kit to about 50 designated medical institutions, the ability to monitor and confirm the virus in regional communities will be strengthened by sequential testing, officials said.

Meanwhile, Thailand medical workers used acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) drugs on the new coronavirus patients, and their Korean counterparts also used AIDS drugs on new coronavirus patients. According to KCDC, the agency gave AIDS treatments to the first and fourth confirmed patients who showed severe pneumonia symptoms.

"Various antiviral drugs showed their effectiveness in many reports and cases from other countries," KCDC Director Jung Eun-kyeong said. "The Korean Society of Infectious Diseases is preparing clinical treatment guidelines by combining reports and domestic and international treatment cases, and supplements the instruction with follow-up examples."