China has made COVID-19 anal smears mandatory for all foreign travelers arriving in the country, a report said on Wednesday.
The government said these tests provide a higher degree of accuracy than other screening methods for the virus, the Times UK reported.
As part of the new travel requirement, there will be test centers at Beijing and Shanghai airports, the agency said.
Li Tongzeng, a respiratory disease specialist, said anal smears are better because traces of viruses remain in the fecal samples longer than in the nose or throat, state media reported.
The move comes after Japan asks China to stop testing its citizens when they enter the country because cotton swabs cause mental distress.
“Some Japanese people reported to our embassy in China that they received anal smear tests, which caused a great deal of psychological pain,” Katsunobu Kato, Japan’s chief office secretary, told a news conference.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, however, defended the exhibitions as “science-based”
The tests are “in line with changes in the epidemic situation, as well as with relevant laws and regulations,” he said.