China uses anal swabs to test US diplomats

Tensions between the two most powerful countries have found a sensitive new outlet, relating to Covid-19 testing.

Medical workers check information as they take swab samples from people to be tested for COVID-19 in Wuhan. Picture: AFP

Tensions between the two most powerful countries have found a sensitive new outlet in a row over anal swab tests for the coronavirus.

Chinese officials violated accepted practice by forcing American diplomatic staff into the procedure, the United States has alleged.

Washington protested to the authorities in Beijing after learning of the tests. It was assured they had been conducted “in error”.

The US State Department is standing firm on the examinations.

“The State Department never agreed to this kind of testing and protested directly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when we learnt that some staff were subjected to it,” a spokesman told Vice, the online news service. “We have instructed staff to decline this test.”

China publicly denied subjecting American diplomats to anal tests.

“As far as I know, the Chinese side has never asked US diplomats in China to take anal swab tests,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, said.

The test is conducted in certain circumstances in China because it is said to be more accurate than nasal or mouth swabs.

Health officials have said that the test, which involves inserting a saline-soaked cotton swab two or three centimetres into the body, is the most reliable way of detecting coronavirus in people without symptoms.

China has used anal tests on recovered Covid-19 patients and on foreign travellers. However, they are considered too cumbersome to administer to the general public.

The Times