Injured Buttocks, China Asked To Stop Anal Swabs For Japanese Citizens

JAKARTA - The Japanese government has asked Beijing to stop conducting anal swab tests to detect COVID-19 on Japanese citizens. Because the procedure causes psychological scars.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said the government had not received a response that Beijing would change testing procedures, so Japan would continue to ask China to change the way it was tested.

"Several Japanese people reported to our embassy in China that they received an anal swab test, which causes great psychological pain", Kato told a press conference, reported by Reuter from Antara, Monday, March 1.

"It is not known how many Japanese citizens have been tested for the coronavirus like that", he said.

Several cities in China are using samples taken from the anus to detect potential COVID-19 infections as China stepped up screening to ensure no one could potentially carry the virus.

China's Foreign Ministry denied last month that United States diplomats in the country were required to carry out anal swab tests for COVID-19 detection, following media reports that some people had complained about the procedure.