Foreigners Required To Take COVID-19 Anal Swab Test When Visiting China

The New York Post reports that all foreigners visiting China are now required to take anal swab tests for COVID-19. This decision has sparked a controversy with some people calling it humiliating.

According to the Chinese Center for Disease Control, the test is conducted using a sterile cotton swab that looks just like an enlarged earbud. The cotton swab is then inserted 3 to 5cm into the anus and gently rotated out.

Tokyo complained about the test was carried out on some Japanese travelers arriving in China, saying that they suffered “great psychological pain.”

On March 2, the South Korean foreign ministry’s spokesman, said that South Korean visitors were allowed to submit stool samples to Chinese authorities.

Some Chinese have been using the anal swap test to look for potential COVID-19 infections to make sure they don’t miss any potential carriers.

Last month, Vice, a US media outlet, cited a State Department saying that Us diplomats had to go through the test. However, the report was rejected by the Chinese foreign ministry.

While anal swabs aren’t mandatory for all foreigners visiting China, a staff of the Daxing district epidemic control department of Beijing told the state-owned Global Times that all international arrivals in Beijing needed to take such testing.

Last month, a video emerging on social media went viral for showing people walking like penguins after taking the anal swab test. The video was then labeled fake by the Chinese authorities, saying that people wouldn’t walk like that after the tests.

>>> China Starts Using Anal Swabs For COVID-19 Testing