China implements invasive quarantine rules amid fear of holiday coronavirus outbreak from wisepowder's blog

China is enforcing strict new measures, including anal swab testing, as COVID-19 cases surge ahead of Lunar New Year, a time of high travel for the country.To get more <b>China news</b>, you can visit shine news official website.

Groups deemed necessary for "close monitoring", including international arrivals, are being subjected to four tests — a nasal swab, a throat swab, a blood test and an anal swab.

"Applying extra anal swabs can improve the detection rate of infection and reduce missed diagnosis," Li Tongzeng, associate director of respiratory and infectious diseases at Beijing's You'an Hospital, told state broadcaster Central Chinese Television (CCTV).

Dr Li said because anal swabs were not as convenient as oral swabs, they were only being used for people under quarantine in major hotspots, including Daxing district in Beijing.The practice has sparked chatter on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu.

Douyacai, a student returning from South Korea, had her anal swab in Beijing on her 14th day of quarantine.She wrote that the test was carried out by medical personnel with two swabs.Winny, a student based in Australia, said she received an anal swab while in quarantine in the city of Guangzhou.

She wrote on her blog that the test was administered on her 12th day of quarantine in addition to an oral swab and she encouraged others to cooperate with medical staff."I'm not quite sure what they're trying to achieve here with all the anal swabs," Dr Sanjaya Senanayake, an infectious diseases expert at the Australian National University, told the ABC.Some Chinese medical experts have also called the practice into question.

Yang Zhanqiu from Wuhan University told the state-run Global Times newspaper that nasal and throat swabs were still the most efficient tests for COVID-19, given the virus was contracted via the upper respiratory tract rather than the digestive system."There have been cases concerning the coronavirus testing positive in a patient's excrement, but no evidence has suggested it had been transmitted through one's digestive system," Dr Yang said.A paper published by a number of Chinese researchers in August 2020 concluded: "Anal swabs might be the optimal specimen for SARS-CoV-2 detection to evaluate hospital discharge of COVID-19 patients."

"Patients with positive stool results require further isolation until the virus is completely eliminated."Dr Senanayake said it was likely Chinese authorities were "probably trying to find [or] pick up as many cases as possible".