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BEIJING (AFP) – China has begun using anal swabs to screen those it considers to be at high risk for Covid-19, state television reported, and social media users and travelers are concerned about the invasive procedure. which, according to doctors, may be more effective in detecting the disease. virus.
Officials took anal samples from neighborhood residents with confirmed Covid-19 cases in Beijing last week, broadcaster CCTV said, while those in designated quarantine facilities have also undergone the test.
The small, localized outbreaks in recent weeks have seen several cities in northern China cut off from the rest of the country and sparked massive testing campaigns, which so far have mainly been done with throat and nose swabs.
But the anal swab method “may increase the detection rate of infected people,” since traces of the virus remain in the anus longer than in the respiratory tract, Li Tongzeng, a senior physician at You’an Hospital in China, told CCTV. Beijing.
Users of the popular Twitter-like social media platform Weibo reacted to the method with a mixture of joy and horror.
“How lucky I came back to China earlier,” wrote one user.
“Little hurt, but extreme humiliation,” said another, using a laughing emoticon.
Others who had undergone the procedure intervened with black humor.
“I did two anal swabs, every time I did one I had to do a throat swab afterwards; I was so afraid the nurse would forget to use a new swab,” joked a Weibo user.
CCTV said on Sunday (January 24) that anal swabs would not be used as widely as other methods, as the technique “was not convenient.”
As cases increase around the world, China has imposed stricter requirements on international arrivals in an effort to keep domestic transmission close to zero.
The country has also tightened national restrictions, with Beijing announcing that people from medium or high-risk areas will not be able to access the city starting Thursday to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus during the Lunar New Year period.
Meanwhile, arrivals to the country must have multiple negative test results and be quarantined for at least 14 days at a designated hotel upon arrival, and many cities and regions impose additional home observation requirements.
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