Anal Swab NOT Compulsory For All Foreigners Arriving in China
3 Minute Read
Except for the quarantine, are anal swabs required for all inbound passengers?
Currently the answer is NO. Only some Chinese cities (Shanghai, Beijing, Xi'an, Qingdao, Dalian and Tianjin) have put the anal swabs into place.
NOT Required for All Passengers & All Cities
Even though reported differently, NOT all inbound travelers to China require anal swabs.
Only some Chinese cities have conducted anal swab test for some entry personnel, namely Shanghai, Beijing, Xi'an, Qingdao, Dalian and Tianjin. While Guangzhou and Xiamen have not conducted anal swab tests for people entering China.
Factors for Measuring the Need for Anal Swab Testing
Per Global Times, anal swab tests have been carried out on some inbound travelers in Shanghai, but not for all passengers. Instead, comprehensive judgment should be made according to specific conditions, including the health status of themselves, results of the nucleic acid tests of other passengers on the same flight, and whether they are from or through countries with server outbreak.
For example, if there are more than or equal to 5 persons tested positive for the virus on this flight, and others with negative results shall collect a complete set of samples for examination again, including nasopharyngeal swab, anal swab, blood and sputum 24 hours after the first sampling.
COVID-19: Anal Swab Test Video
Complaints about the “undignified” procedure
The Japanese government raised concern about its citizens being subjected to the “undignified” procedure while American diplomats have also complained. Katsunobu Kato, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, said it would ask China to alter its testing regimen after some Japanese travellers reported suffering “psychological pain” from the invasive procedure.
As a possible compromise Lu Hongzhou, a Shanghai-based doctor, told China’s state media that the anal swab could be substituted with a stool sample. South Korea appears to have accepted that offer and Japan is also understood to be in talks about a deal that would allow its citizens to avoid a test that involves the 2-3cm insertion of a saline-soaked cotton swab, which is then checked for the virus.
China says that the anal swab provides a higher degree of accuracy than most established Covid-19 testing protocols. The expansion of the swab test to airports that now include the hubs of Beijing and Shanghai is part of more sweeping “scientific adjustments” to China’s pandemic-control measures, according to the government.
In Beijing, a Chinese man who returned to the country told state media that he was required to take a nasal or throat swab test on his third and seventh days of a three-week quarantine. Then on the 14th and 21st day, authorities performed the anal swab test and collected samples from his room to test for the virus.
Chinese doctors have used anal swab tests on recovered Covid-19 patients to ensure they were virus-free. In January the government applied the method on some residents placed in isolation in part of a northern city following a minor outbreak. Li Tongzeng, a respiratory disease doctor in Beijing, told state media that virus traces stay detectable in stools far longer than in throats or noses.
In what appeared be an ill-timed plea, Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist at the China Centre for Disease Control, proposed that Beijing and Washington should lift mutual travel restrictions between them. He said they should recogize each nation's vaccination records and aim to restart travel in August or Septemner when the United States expects to have achieved herd immuniy, initially for business travellers.
READ MORE
March: ALL Flights In & Out of China
China is Ready to Issue Digital Currency
Good News: 2021 Inland Travel to China Likely
China Accelerates Vaccination To Form Herd Immunity Sooner