China now using anal swabs to detect COVID-19 cases

(KYMA, KECY) - With a new wave of an outbreak in China, it's now using anal swabs to test its residents for COVID-19.

The New York Post reported local experts continue to find accurate ways to detect the virus. Adding that a derriere detection method is used more frequently in Beijing after a 9 year old tested positive for the virus's U.K. variant last month.

However, anal swabs are continued to be used for people living in COVID-19 hot spots such as Shanghai.

A doctor tells The New York Post, “Of course, anal swabs aren’t as convenient as throat swabs, so they’re only being used on individuals in key quarantine areas,” said Li Tongzeng of Beijing Youan Hospital.

Tongzeng adds, “What we’ve found is that in some infected patients, the coronavirus survives for a longer period of time in their digestive tract or excrement than in their respiratory tract."