@RaheemKassan/Twitter
February 7, 2021, 9:20 am*
Thanks to a Gateway Pundit article purporting that anal swab tests for coronavirus will make those who take it “walk like a penguin,” a number of right-wing men have taken to their platforms to openly worry.
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The article claimed that “Communist China is now performing COVID anal swabs on the children,” and that “the public began to take notice when the children started walking like penguins.”
There’s a lot chatter about anal COVID swabs in MAGA world. Anal COVID swabs are being used in China to a limited degree because it is reported that they are more accurate than nasal or throat tests. Just FYI.
— Parlertakes
(@parlertakes) January 29, 2021
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As Nautilus reported last week, though, the number of people in the Beijing metro area who went through this method of testing passed 1 million. It wasn’t done in secret; rather, they’re being discussed and debated on at least one Chinese social media platform, and they’re being done because they’re believed to be more accurate than throat swabs.
Though, as one health official understated, “Anal swabs aren’t as convenient as throat swabs, so they’re only being used on individuals in key quarantine areas.”
Nautilus’s report went on to say that, according to China’s National Health Commission, the anal swabs are to be administered 3-5 centimeters (1.2-2 inches) inside the rectum. The swab is rotated then removed before being securely placed inside a sample container, with the procedure taking less than 10 seconds.
Still, the penguin-walk alarm persisted, with Raheem Kassam attempting to make it funny on The National Pulse with right-wing commentator Harlan Z. Hill and Trump-supporting preacher Darrell Scott.
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Far-right provocateur Jacob Wohl, via Telegram, weighed in by saying, “You’re going to be forced to take it,” without offering any proof that this was the case.
And Newsmax contributor Dr. David Samadi joked about “the next media obsession” being the virus spreading by fart:
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Others on Twitter voiced their general derision at just the idea of an anal COVID swab.
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There’s also a report from British publication Metro noting that video showing people waddling, which some cited as evidence of the “penguin walking” that the Gateway Pundit reported on, is fake.
Though the article didn’t elaborate on the possible origins, it did share assurances from Chinese officials that what was depicted in the video wasn’t the result of the testing method.
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(Note: We searched “anal swabs” on Twitter so you didn’t have to.)
*First Published: February 7, 2021, 9:18 am
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