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Tokyo urged Beijing to stop taking anal nCoV samples after many Japanese citizens suffered “severe psychological pain.”
“Some Japanese citizens have called the embassy in China, saying they have suffered severe psychological pain from taking samples for anal tests,” Japan’s Chief of Staff Katsunobu Kato said at the press conference in Tokyo today.
Mr. Kato added that Tokyo has not received any response from Beijing on changing the sampling procedure, stating that Japan will continue to ask China to choose an alternative. It is unclear how many Japanese citizens should undergo an anal nCoV test.
Kato’s chief of staff held a press conference in Tokyo in late February. AFP.
China says that taking anal nCoV samples from the anus may be more effective than conventional oropharyngeal drainage, as the virus can last longer in the digestive system. Chinese officials have used this method with people believed to be at high risk of infection, including residents of the neighborhood where the infection was found or some international tourists.
Chinese state media reported that the nCoV anal method had caused controversy on Weibo when it was used in Beijing during a small outbreak in January. Many considered the method “scary”, while others expressed interest in the new test method.
However, Beijing officials also admit that it is difficult to apply the anal nCoV test as widely as other methods, which are used to test millions of people, because it is “inconvenient” for both medical personnel and those who were tested.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said on February 25 that some members of the US delegation were also subject to this sampling method and had expressed objections. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Trieu Lap Kien previously denied that Beijing forced US diplomats to undergo an anal test.
Vu anh (Follow, continue Reuters)
