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Japan has warned China that it will not tolerate China taking anal swab tests for coronavirus on its citizens upon their entrance to the country, reports Wion.
“Some Japanese reported to our embassy in China that they received anal swab tests, which caused great psychological pain,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said.
China started carrying out anal swab tests in January. Reports suggest that US diplomats had to undergo such tests as well. According to a spokesperson for the US Department of State, the United States had received assurances from China that the tests were done in error and that diplomatic personnel were exempt from this specific testing requirement.
However, Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a news conference Thursday, said that he had checked with his colleagues and as far as he knew, “China has never asked U.S. diplomats stationed in China to have anal swab tests.”
More efficient?
The procedure to perform these tests involves a 3-5 cm (1.2-2.0 inches) cotton swab inserted into the anus and gently rotated to get the sample from within, which is then tested for the deadly coronavirus.
These swab tests are undignified and humiliating in nature. Reportedly, the tests were performed on Japanese citizens who were already quarantined or those who were entering China. The Japanese authorities also said that this strange swab test “has not been confirmed anywhere else in the world”.
According to China, anal swab tests “increase the detection rate of infected people”. But experts believe these anal swab tests are less efficient than the swab tests from the upper respiratory tracts as most people contract the coronavirus orally.
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