Chinese authorities have used coronavirus tests that are based on anal swabs, as the country reports an increase in COVID-19 cases.
Healthcare professionals typically reserve tests for high-risk cases, such as quarantine sites, according to several reports citing the state-run CCTV television channel.
However, the method was also used on a group of schoolchildren and teachers in Beijing last week, according to several reports. Throat and nose swabs were also used in the group.
On Monday, nasal and anal swabs were also taken from a group of passengers on a flight from Changchun (China) to Beijing.
Other travelers arriving in Beijing have also been asked to wear anal swabs. A woman, who was not identified by her name, was asked to use an anal swab in a mandatory quarantine of hotels in Beijing, along with several nose and throat tests and a blood test, Bloomberg News reported .
The test may involve inserting a one- or two-centimeter swab into the rectum to collect a sample.
Some Chinese doctors have argued that patients recovering from COVID-19 have continued to test positive in lower digestive tract samples, even after nasal and throat swabs were negative, according to several reports.
But other doctors argue that the discomfort of the test could turn out to be a barrier for patients.
“If we add anal swab tests, it can increase our identification rate of infected patients,” Li Tongzeng, an infectious disease specialist at You’an Hospital in Beijing, said this week. “But of course, given that the collection of anal swabs is not as convenient as throat tampons, at the moment only key groups like those in quarantine receive both.”
China has seen an increase in recently confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the country this month after largely containing the virus for several months last year. Officials have asked residents not to travel in an effort to stop the spread of the virus before the new lunar year of February.