Chinese authorities have used coronavirus tests that rely on anal swabs as the country reports an increase in COVID-19 cases.
The tests are usually reserved by health professionals for high-risk cases, such as those in quarantine areas, according to several reports the state channel calls CCTV.
According to various reports, the method was also used in a group of school children and teachers in Beijing last week. Throat and nose pads were also used in the group.
Nose and anal swabs were also taken Monday from a group of passengers on a flight from Changchun, China, to Beijing.
Other travelers arriving in Beijing were also asked to use anal swabs. One woman, who was not identified by name, was asked to use an anal swab in a mandatory hotel quarantine in Beijing, along with several nose and throat tests and a blood test, Bloomberg News reported.
The test may involve placing a swab about one to two inches into the rectum to collect a sample.
Some doctors in China have argued that patients recovering from COVID-19 continued to test positive in samples from the lower gastrointestinal tract, even after nasal and throat swabs were negative, according to several reports.
But other doctors argue that the inconvenience of the test could be a barrier for patients.
“Adding anal swab tests can increase our patients’ identification of infected patients,” Li Tongzeng, an infectious disease specialist at Beijing You’an Hospital, told CCTV this week. “But of course, since the collection of anal swabs is not as convenient as throat swabs, at the moment only key groups like those in quarantine receive both.”
China has seen an increase in newly established cases of COVID-19 across the country this month, after largely containing the virus last year. Officials urged residents not to travel in an effort to stop the spread of the virus before the Moon New Year in February.