In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, workers in protective suits take a swab for a coronavirus test in Shenyang, in northeastern China, on Jan. 11. (Yao Jianfeng/AP)

SEOUL — Months-long lockdowns. Entire city populations herded through the streets for mandatory testing. The people of China could be forgiven for thinking they had seen it all during the coronavirus pandemic.

But now they face a new indignity: the addition of anal swabs — yes, you read that right — to the testing regimen for those in quarantine.