Published 27 January, 2021
Basseterre
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
Method can increase detection rate among infected people, senior Beijing doctor tells state TV
China has begun using anal swabs to test those it considers to be at high risk of contracting Covid-19, state TV has reported.
Officials took anal swabs from residents of neighbourhoods with confirmed Covid-19 cases in Beijing last week, according to the state broadcaster CCTV, while those in designated quarantine facilities have also had the tests.
Small, localised outbreaks in recent weeks have resulted in multiple cities in northern China being sealed off from the rest of the country and prompted mass testing campaigns, which had mostly been conducted using throat and nose swabs.
The anal swabs method “can increase the detection rate of infected people” as traces of the virus linger longer in the anus than in the respiratory tract, Li Tongzeng, a senior doctor from Beijing’s Youan hospital, told CCTV.
