China Gave US Diplomats Anal COVID Tests ‘In Error,’ American Officials Say

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The U.S. State Department says it is committed to preserving the “dignity” of American diplomats.


The spokesperson said Beijing had assured Washington that the test was given “in error” and that diplomatic personnel were exempt from the test, which was mandatory for incoming travelers in some parts of China.

“We have instructed staff to decline this test if it is asked of them, as was done in the past.”


On Thursday afternoon, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian denied Beijing had asked U.S. diplomats in China to undergo anal swab tests.

Some Chinese regions have been ordering anal swabs for people under quarantine, including those who arrived from abroad. Authorities say the tests can avoid missing infections.

It’s not clear how many U.S. diplomats or their family members have gone through the tests.

The spokesperson said the State Department is committed to preserving the “dignity” of American diplomats and their families, consistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and other diplomatic law provisions.

In an online post earlier in February, China’s National Health Commission said in some cases, the coronavirus can be more readily detected in anal samples than in throat and nasal samples. But it acknowledged rectal swabs are not suitable for mass use because they are inconvenient and unpopular.

According to the commission’s instructions, the anal samples are collected by inserting a cotton swab three to five centimeters (about one to two inches) into the rectum.


Reports about anal COVID-19 testing prompted a wave of panic on Chinese social media last month. A traveler from Australia to China who was given anal swabs in September told VICE World News it felt like having diarrhea.

China has largely contained the pandemic; only a handful of cases are reported daily across the country of 1.4 billion people. Its relatively early recovery helped its film industry break records earlier this month during the Lunar New Year holiday, but the authorities remain wary of foreign visitors who could bring new outbreaks.

 

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China denies requiring U.S. diplomats to take anal swab tests​

By Reuters Staff
2 MIN READ

China’s foreign ministry denied on Thursday that U.S. diplomats in the country had been required to take anal swab tests for COVID-19, following media reports that some had complained about the procedure.
U.S. media outlet Vice on Wednesday cited a State Department official as saying the test was given in error and that China had said it would stop such tests on U.S. diplomats.

“To my knowledge...China has never required U.S. diplomatic staff stationed in China to conduct anal swab tests,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a daily news briefing in Beijing.
In an email to Reuters, a State Department representative said it was “committed to guaranteeing the safety and security of American diplomats and their families, while preserving their dignity”.

Some Chinese cities used samples taken from the anus to detect potential infections amid stepped-up screening during a spate of regional outbreaks ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays.
Tests using anal swabs can avoid missing infections as virus traces in faecal samples or anal swabs could remain detectable for a longer time than in those from the respiratory tract, Li Tongzeng, a respiratory diseases doctor in Beijing, told state television last month.
Stool tests may also be more effective in finding infections in children and infants as their waste carries a higher viral load than adults, researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong said in a paper published last year.



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