How can you test Corona before the outbreak (February 6)?

The novel coronavirus was officially announced by Chinese authorities on 7 January. The complete genetic code was released for immediate public health support via the community online resource virological.org on 10 January. The genome sequences suggest presence of a virus closely related to SARS-related CoV, a species defined by the agent of the 2002/03 outbreak of SARS in humans (Peiris et al., 2003). The species also comprises a large number of viruses mostly detected in rhinolophid bats in Asia and Europe. As the sequences were publically available and it was confirmed that they were related to SARS-related CoV, a similar method detection could be used.