As Chinese authorities struggle to contain new Covid-19 outbreaks ahead of the Lunar New Year celebrations, Beijing has added another weapon to its arsenal of border curbs, mass testing and hard lockdowns: anal swabs. “Chinese state media outlets introduced the new protocol in recent days, prompting widespread discussion and some outrage,” reports The Washington Post. “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,”