Chinese authorities have used coronavirus tests that rely on anal swabs as the country reports an increase in COVID-19 cases.
The tests are typically reserved by health care professionals for high-risk cases, such as those at quarantine sites, according to multiple reports mentioning state-run CCTV channels.
However, according to several reports, the method was also applied to a group of school children and teachers in Beijing last week. Throat and nose swabs were also used in the group.
Nose and anal swabs were also taken Monday from a group of passengers on a flight from Changchun, China, to Beijing.
Other travelers arriving in Beijing have also been asked to use anal swabs. A woman, who was not named, was asked to use an anal swab in a mandatory Beijing hotel quarantine in addition to several nose and throat exams and a blood test, Bloomberg News reported.
The test may consist of inserting a cotton swab about one to two centimeters into the rectum to take a sample.
Some doctors in China have argued that patients recovering from COVID-19 continued to test positive in lower digestive tract samples even after nose and throat swabs were negative according to multiple reports.
But other doctors argue that the discomfort of the test could prove to be a barrier for patients.
“If we add anal swab tests, it could increase our rate of identifying infected patients,” Li Tongzeng, an infectious disease specialist at Beijing You’an Hospital, told CCTV this week. “But of course, given that collecting anal swabs isn’t as easy as throat swabs, currently only key groups like those quarantined are getting both.”
China has seen an increase in the number of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the country this month, having largely shut in the virus for several months last year. Officials have called on residents not to travel in an effort to stop the spread of the virus ahead of the Lunar New Year in February.