Japan has asked China to avoid using anal swabs to test its citizens for coronavirus, saying the method prompted complaints of “psychological distress.”

China, which has largely brought the virus under control domestically, said last month that anal swabs can be more effective than normal throat and nose tests as the virus can linger longer in the digestive system.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary KATO Katsunobu said at a press conference on Monday that some Japanese citizens who have traveled to China have been sampled from their anus during PCR tests for the new coronavirus.

Kato said that he had asked the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Beijing city officials to exempt Japanese nationals from the Japanese embassy in China because of the opinion that “psychological distress is great.”

“Our embassy requested Japanese citizens be excluded from anal PCR tests, as some Japanese expatriates… expressed the opinion that the tests produce significant psychological distress,” Kato said.

It was not known how many Japanese citizens received such tests for the coronavirus, he said.

According to Kato, in China, samples from the anus are collected from those subjected to mass isolation and some visitors, but it was not known how many Japanese citizens received such tests for the coronavirus, he said.

“At this point we have not received a response that they change this… We will continue pressing the issue,” he added, noting that there was no information that any other country was using the method.

JIJI Press/AFP