Woah! Surely using anal swabs to test the public isn't okay?
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...
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.
Read: Explosive goes off near Covid test centre in Netherlands
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...
This process takes about 10 seconds... 10 seconds too long if you ask us!
Reuters says Japan spokesperson, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, said that the government has not received any updates from the Chinese capital indicating it would stop using this process on Japanese citizens.
Speaking at a news conference, he said:
Some Japanese reported to our embassy in China that they received anal swab tests, which caused a great psychological pain.
He continued to add that they will push for China to excuse Japanese residents from being subjected to this procedure, with the concern that this procedure has not been confirmed as effective anywhere else in the world.
But Japan wasn't the only country uneasy about this procedure, because Washington also protested the use of anal swabs on American diplomats in China last month, describing it as 'undignified'.
The State Department spokesperson told Vice:
The State Department never agreed to this kind of testing and protested directly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when we learned that some staff were subject to it.
The spokesperson added that Beijing assured Washington that the tests were carried out 'in error', saying:
We have instructed staff to decline this test if it is asked of them, as was done in the past.
But believe it or not, some experts believe the anal swab method is more accurate than a nasal or throat check, meaning it can help detect the virus. The coronavirus survives longer in excrement or the anus than it does in the throat and nasal passage.
Back in February, Chinese authorities had reassured citizens they won't be walking like 'penguins' after receiving the anal swab, but little did they know...
Video of Chinese citizens walking stiffly while leaving a hospital - much like a penguin...
This video obviously went viral, being viewed millions of times on various social media platforms, until the footage got taken down by internet censors.
The Shijiazhuang Internet Report Centre said the video had been edited and doctored to spread 'rumour'.
The authority also stressed that patients would not experience any discomfort after receiving the anal swab. We don't know about you, but we are definitely not trying this out.
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