China rolls out anal swab coronavirus test, saying it's more accurate than throat method

[ForgoTheConsequence]

Source: Washington Post

SEOUL — Months-long lockdowns. Entire city populations herded through the streets for mandatory testing. The people of China could be forgiven for thinking they had seen it all during the coronavirus pandemic.

But now they face a new indignity: the addition of anal swabs — yes, you read that right — to the testing regimen for those in quarantine.

Chinese state media outlets introduced the new protocol in recent days, prompting widespread discussion and some outrage. Some Chinese doctors say the science is there. Recovering patients, they say, have continued to test positive through samples from the lower digestive tract days after nasal and throat swabs came back negative.

Yet for many, it seemed a step too far in government intrusions after a year and counting of a dignity-eroding pandemic.

“Everyone involved will be so embarrassed,” one user in Guang­dong province said Wednesday on ­Weibo, a Chinese social media platform. In a Weibo poll, 80 percent of respondents said they “could not accept” the invasive method.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/anal-swab-china-coronavirus/2021/01/27/cc284f56-6054-11eb-a177-7765f29a9524_story.html

[orangecrush]

1. Just when I thought

Pandemic news couldn't get any more depressing.

Virus - "Hey, they're looking for us! Where's a good place to hide?"

[FarPoint]

7. Hahahahahahaha....

Yeap....

[Canoe52]

22. The only reason I clicked on this was to see the jokes you all are leaving.

Edited to add: you didn’t disappoint!

[bottomofthehill]

2. Yep, cross China off the Bickel list of places to visit for a while.

[turtleblossom]

3. Is this a joke to see who will try this?

[Strelnikov_]

10. Actually, makes a lot of sense

G/I tract has many ACE2 receptor cells.

Avoid false positive, or negative, by swabbing the 'intake'.

If you are shitting it out, ya got it.

Sorry.

[Historic NY]

24. I spoke to a friend today that got Covid-19

he said it was mostly his GI tract and breathing.

[Marcuse]

38. "I've done two anal swabs"

“Every time I did one I had to do a throat swab afterwards – I was so scared the nurse would forget to use a new swab,” one Weibo user joked.

[LeftInTX]

5. Well, this is an effective way to curtail travel! No travel ban needed!

[RockRaven]

6. Wait until the Alex Jones types hear about this... They will never stop yelling about it.

The confluence of communist government, covid, butts...

[yaesu]

8. that would make for some interesting drive through testing

[turtleblossom]

9. Open wide! No, not your mouth.

[Ferrets are Cool]

11. Isn't is funny/curious how we react to this when it's just another orifice in our body

[Judi Lynn]

39. Some people are so puritanical they insist upon concealing theirs! Can you imagine? 👀

[Ferrets are Cool]

41. When aliens "mount" us in their trophy rooms, do you think

it will be clothed? Nope.

[bringthePaine]

12. there's more than enough assholes to make this work...💩

[orangecrush]

15. Let the puns begin!

[SWBTATTReg]

13. Can't resist, but another reason to watch your a&&! Ha ha heh...good to know that ..

there's a logical reason for this, there are most ace2 receptions (thanks for the knowledge) there. I wonder if this would work on maybe a typical stool sample one takes to the doctor occasionally? If they didn't develop something like using a stool sample, how did they imagine handling (in China) 100s of millions of people mooning their doctors in giving samples?

[sarcasmo]

14. This Stinks! 💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩

[orangecrush]

16. Literally

The shitty end of the stick.

[OneBlueSky]

17. Gives a whole new meaning to "Say Ahhh", doesn't it . . . n/t

[Bayard]

18. Ahhh..... no

Not going there. I had enough trouble with someone sticking a swab up my nose.

I will not be the butt of any jokes.

[GulfCoast66]

36. No, you misunderstood...

It’s an extra long Q—tip. They still go in through the nose.

[left-of-center2012]

19. How big is the swab?

Is it the size of a rectal thermometer, or a rolling pin?

[NBachers]

20. I can see the effectiveness, but I'm not over the moon about it.

I just mailed in one of those poop sample tests - maybe that would be the way to go.

[BadgerKid]

21. Wow, a new found market for KN95 underwear. n/t

[Historic NY]

23. Definitely not the onion.

[dalton99a]

25. Three to five centimetres

Anal swabs require inserting a cotton swab three to five centimetres (1.2 to two inches) into the anus and gently rotating it.

Last week, a Beijing city official said that anal swabs were taken from more than 1,000 teachers, staffers and students at a primary school in the city after an infection had been found there. Nose and throat swabs and serum samples were also collected for testing.

Additional tests using anal swabs can pick up infections that other tests miss, as virus traces in faecal samples or anal swabs could remain detectable for a longer time than in samples taken from upper respiratory tract, Dr Li Tongzeng, a respiratory and infectious disease specialist in Beijing city, told state TV last week.

Users of China’s Weibo, its Twitter-like social media platform, reacted to the method with a mix of mirth and horror.

“Low harm, but extreme humiliation,” another said, using a laughing emoticon.

“I’ve done two anal swabs, every time I did one I had to do a throat swab afterwards – I was so scared the nurse would forget to use a new swab,” one Weibo user joked.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/28/chinese-cities-using-anal-swabs-to-screen-covid-infections

[Sancho]

26. I'll bet the line at CVS would keep 6 feet apart!

[dalton99a]

27. Bottoms up!

[AllTooEasy]

28. The Fall of China's Communist Party in 3...2..1...

Worst Political Decision Ever!

[LudwigPastorius]

29. Sending the following to all wingnuts I know:

"If you thought the Obama Death Panels were tough, wait'll you get a load of the Biden Mandatory Anal Probes!"

[BigBearJohn]

30. I think they should give DJT an anal swab & to be doubly sure, do an oral swab with the same swab.

[mwooldri]

31. Seems as if an old meme becomes reality...

[oasis]

32. Lol

[trusty elf]

33. If you test positive, you can knock it out with a gallon of bleach!

[IronLionZion]

40. That's why I clicked on this thread

truth is stranger than memes

[Denvermosaic]

34. Kung poo swab

[Botany]

35. This would be a perfect for an @ home test

Do a # 2 and then drop some toilet paper into a test kit and see if your are positive or negative.

[Nitram]

37. I guarantee this will go over like a lead ballon.

A Led Zeppelin?

[BobTheSubgenius]

42. I don't imagine China would do this, but if it comes to our shores, I think we should insist.

Not until after they buy you dinner, or at least a couple of drinks. And no Rohypnol!

[hadEnuf]

43. Oh look! A new test for Trumpublican Covid deniers!