BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities Thursday demanded efforts to extend the coverage of nucleic acid and antibody tests in the key regions with novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak risks.

The authorities called for raising the detection rate to find infected people promptly, and obtain the status of asymptomatic coronavirus cases to reduce the risk of virus transmission, according to a meeting of China's leading group on COVID-19 response.

The meeting also required improving detection technologies, and efforts to speed up the research and development of anti-virus medicines and vaccines.