Medical staff check a patient's condition at a temporary hospital converted from "Wuhan Livingroom" in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiong Qi)

Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, has proposed including antibody tests in medical insurance.

The test price ranges from 40 yuan ($5.5) to 50 yuan ($7) under the insurance, depending on the categories of the hospital, according to a notification released  by the Guangzhou healthcare security administration on Friday. 

The insurance plan is applicable to all medical institutions designated for COVID-19 in Guangzhou that are qualified to provide the antibody test, it said. 

The test includes immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) tests, both of which are commonly used for identification of the infection with the coronavirus. 

A positive IgM helps with the early detection and treatment of the infected patients, while detecting a positive IgG indicates that people have been infected with the virus in the past and their immunity system has produced antibodies that can protect them from future infections. 

The city's plan was hailed by netizens on social media, who called for more cities to follow suit. 

At Wednesday's meeting of the central government's leading working group on combating COVID-19, officials called for the implementation of large-scale nucleic acid tests and antibody tests across the country amid the national resumption of production and work.