Woah! Surely using anal swabs to test the public isn t okay? Updated
Stacey and JSbu
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We don t know about you, but having a normal COVID-19 test is pretty uncomfortable. It s not fun having something shoved down your nose or mouth, but this. uhm.
Credit: PA
News has come out that some parts of China are carrying out anal swabs to test for coronavirus. Since the reports, the Japanese government got a whiff of this and has requested that Beijing stop using this method on their residents.
We are not sure if you want to even know more about this, but this procedure involves a swab being inserted about three to five centimetres (1.2 to 2 inches) into the patient s rectum, before being rotated several times to collect the sample. That certainly doesn t sound comfortable.
Authorities in China have warned that a video showing people waddling like penguins after purportedly undergoing an anal swab for COVID-19 is fake. (Envato Elements)
Officials in China have tried to reassure the public that they won’t end up waddling “like penguins” if they receive an anal swab for COVID-19.
A small number of people have been receiving anal swabs in quarantine centres in China, according to local media reports, with some experts suggesting that these tests could be more accurate than the regular throat and nose swabs.
However, authorities sought to assuage people’s concerns over the idea of anal swabbing after a fake video was circulated widely on social media in China showing people waddling like penguins while walking out of a hospital.