China has made the controversial covid-19 anal swab tests mandatory for most international travellers arriving in the country, a practice many have described as humiliating.
Chinese doctors claim that anal swab test can ensure that infections are spotted as covid traces can be detectable in the anus for longer than in the respiratory tract.
American diplomats have complained after being forced into having the imtimate procedure and the Japanese government has raised concerns over its citizens being subjected to the “undignified” tests.
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New York Post reports: The government has claimed that such tests provides a higher degree of accuracy than other screening methods for the virus, the Times UK reported.
As part of the new travel requirement, there will be testing hubs in Beijing and Shanghai airports, the outlet reported.
Li Tongzeng, a respiratory disease medic, said that the anal swabs are better because virus traces stay longer in fecal samples than they do in the nose or throat, state media reported.
The move comes after Japan asked China to stop performing the exams on their citizens when they enter the country because the swabs cause mental anguish.
“Some Japanese reported to our embassy in China that they received anal swab tests, which caused a great psychological pain,” Katsunobu Kato, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, told a news conference.
Niamh Harris
the virus does not even survive the intestinal tract.