In China, anal swabs are already compulsory …

In China made the mandatory nature of anal swabs to detect covid-19 among the requirements for people arriving from abroad. These tests are carried out on those who come to Beijing and Qingdao.

The state newspaper Global Times reported that both the capital of the country and that of the eastern province of Shandong have practiced this new test method on a mandatory basis. as part of quarantine requirements on arrival in the country from abroad.

China has decided to implement these tests because according to experts, they would be more precise than others commonly used until now such as taking pharyngeal samples with swabs introduced through the nose – the most common for PCR tests -, saliva or blood.

The anal tests had already been used in Shanghai in early 2020 as one of the standards for allowing inpatient covid discharges, although after a while that left them out.

In recent weeks, faced with the worst outbreaks since the middle of last year, some cities have resorted to this method for checking suspected cases and for close contact of infected people or, as in the case of Yangzhou, for routine checks on cold chain workers. The Chinese government is targeting this sector as one of the possible culprits of the latest wave of infections.

Rectal tests generated controversy and reactions on social networks. There, many users are wondering if it is really necessary considering the fact that the most common methods have proven to be effective.

One person who had an anal test described him as “strange” in statements to the local Beijing News. “You take your pants off, lie down on the bed, and feel how the cotton swabs are inserted into your anus twice and twisted. It takes about 10 seconds each time, ”he says.

Quoted by Global Times, Lu Hongzhou, director of the Clinical Center for Public Health at Fudan University (Shanghai), said the anal tests are “more stable and accurate” than nose and throat tests, where it is more likely to take unusable samples or give erroneous results.

According to Chinese scientists, the coronavirus disappears more quickly in these types of samples than in anal samples, which would mean that the latter would be more suited to asymptomatic carriers or those whose respiratory symptoms have recovered.

However, Lu clarified that the anal testing does not apply to mass testing which take place in Chinese cities as soon as certain cases are detected.