Embarrassment about this test when entering China,expert suggest

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Recently, anal swab testing came under the spotlight again after Japan's chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato said on Monday that Tokyo has requested Beijing to stop taking anal swab tests for COVID-19 on Japanese citizens because the procedure causes "great psychological pain." 

Katsunobu Kato

In response, Wang Wenbin, spokesperson from China's Foreign Ministry, said on a Monday conference that China has made scientific adjustment of COVID-19 prevention measures.

Several Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province are requiring certain international arrivals to take anal swab tests before completing quarantine periods, as health experts believe the method is more accurate than nasal and throat swabs. 

Some experts even suggested that people under quarantine can submit stool samples instead, so as to reduce the discomfort during the sampling process.

Shanghai asks certain overseas travelers to undergo anal swab testing. For example, travelers on a plane where more than five people test positive for the coronavirus have to undertake a full set of tests, including anal swabs, nasal/throat swab tests, and tests of blood and phlegm. Travelers from countries or regions where the virus is rife or test positive upon arrival also have to undergo this full set of tests, said the employee.

In special circumstances, such as a traveler who has developed symptoms like diarrhea, the person will have to take an anal swab test for COVID-19, the staffer revealed. 

Medical staff will collect nasal or throat swab samples of international travelers to Beijing on the third and seventh day after arrival. On the 14th and 21st days after their arrival, anal swab testing will be added. 

An employee from Beijing's Daxing district epidemic control department told that general international travelers to Beijing are subject to anal swab testing, along with nasal swab and environment sample testing.

"If people are not familiar with the procedure for taking an anal swab test, our employees will help explain how it will be done," she said. 

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Anal swab testing involves a cotton swab from three to five centimeters long being inserted in one's rectum and gently rotated for 10 seconds of sample excavation, the Beijing health commission explained on its website.  

The testing method first came to public attention in January, when it was being used on a few key groups in China, including some cold-chain workers, certain people returning from overseas and close contacts of patients. Health experts suggested that although it is awkward for the patient, anal swab tests are more reliable than nasal tests because traces of the virus remain longer in fecal matter than in the respiratory tract. 

Click to review: Entry to China increasing new requirements, adding awkward tests

Lu Hongzhou, an expert from the Public Health Clinical Center affiliated to Fudan University, told that he is a firm supporter of anal swab testing for international travelers to China, as nasal or throat swab testing may bring false negative results.

Source:globaltimes

Editor: Crystal H

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