As the coronavirus epidemic is spreading across the world, a Thorold company is working hard to produce tests that diagnose the illness in patients. Norgen, ‘Thorold’s kept secret’, as president, Dr. Yousef Haj-Ahmad calls the company he founded in 1998, has mainly been producing highly sensitive diagnostic tests for research- and lab uses, selling mostly to the academic world, pharmaceutical- and biotech companies. But a couple of months ago a new task presented itself. Haj-Ahmad and his team started hearing worrisome news reports of a novel virus that had emerged in China.