Chinese authorities used coronavirus tests based on anal smears, as the country reports an increase in cases of COVID-19.
The tests are usually reserved by health professionals for high-risk cases, such as those in quarantine locations, according to several reports citing state-owned channel CCTV.
However, the method was also used on a group of students and teachers in Beijing last week, according to several reports. Throat and nose swabs were also used in the group.
Nose and anal swabs were also removed from a group of passengers on a flight from Changchun, China, to Beijing on Monday.
Other travelers who arrived in Beijing were also asked to use anal swabs. A woman, who was not identified by name, was asked to use an anal swab in a mandatory quarantine at a hotel in Beijing, along with several nose and throat tests and a blood test, Bloomberg News reported.
The test may involve inserting a cotton swab about an inch or two into the rectum to collect a sample.
Some doctors in China argued that patients recovering from COVID-19 continued to show positive results in samples from the lower digestive tract, even after the nasal and throat smears were negative, according to several reports.
But other doctors argue that the inconvenience of the test can be a barrier for patients.
“If we add the anal smear test, 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, considering that collecting anal smears is not as convenient as throat swabs, at the moment only key groups, such as those in quarantine, receive both.”
China saw an increase in recently confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the country this month, after containing the virus for several months last year. Authorities urged residents not to travel in an effort to prevent the virus from spreading before the Lunar New Year in February.