Now, that’s a travel disincentive…
Chinese authorities are taking no chances as people start to travel around in preparation for Lunar New Year, with anal swabs being mandated for international arrivals.
Anyone who falls into the category of needing “close monitoring” will be subjected to a nasal swab, a throat swab, a blood test and that fourth, more invasive and unreliable test for COVID.
The anal swab takes less than ten seconds but is a very effective way to remove a patient’s dignity.
Participants described departing the testing rooms with a feeling of embarrassment and “endless shame”, the ABC reported.
Both Chinese and Australian experts are perplexed by the use of an inferior and much less fun testing regime.
“I’m not quite sure what they’re trying to achieve here with all the anal swabs,” ANU infectious disease expert Dr Sanjaya Senanayake told the ABC. “If you find a positive anal swab, it might just be confusing,” he said.
“Obviously, from a compliance point of view, certainly people would obviously prefer the respiratory swab to the rectal or anal swab,” he said.
Yang Zhanqiu from Wuhan University said nasal and throat swabs were the most efficient tests for COVID-19 because the virus was contracted via the respiratory tract and not the digestive system.
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