Singapore hires virus testers as cases rise

SINGAPORE – As the city-government increases its inspection regime to bring in one of Asia’s highest COVID-19 caseloads, Singapore is offering a generous salary for doing nasal clothes in isolated immigrant shelters.

The job advertisement, published by the National Trade Congress, an employment initiative, e2i, said applicants should be clinically relevant as they have a history of chronic illness and mastery of English. No medical experience required.

A job advertisement explaining that successful applicants will be trained to conduct nasopharyngeal swabs, “a method of obtaining samples from the back of the nose and throat, by inserting clothes into the nostrils.

There are approximately 27,000 cases in the island nation of Singapore, which is the highest per capita infection rate in Asia, largely due to the large outbreak of foreign workers in cramped punk-beds.

The government, which has ordered a nationwide lockdown as of June 1, aims to test the 323,000 foreign workers living in shelters over the coming weeks as they bring people back to work.

To do so, it aims to increase its daily testing capacity from about 8,000 to about 40,000 at present.

There have been some setbacks on the salary paid for job advertising, which exceeds that of entry-level nurses at S $ 3,800 a month, whose salary starts at S $ 3,300 a month.

Facebook user Willie Kahn said authorities should consider raising the minimum wage to S $ 3,800 per month for other health workers, such as nurses and paramedics, during the epidemic. “It’s right and proper,” Khan wrote on the Facebook page of a Singapore parliament speaker who shared the job advert.

In a statement, Singapore’s Ministry of Health sought to explain the wage disparity, saying that, unlike other full-time health workers, swaggers hired under the initial six-month contract – no career advancement or additional allowances or bonuses – are being paid.

Others said the six-day-a-week job was guaranteed due to the dangers of working in isolated areas, such as immigrant shelters, COVID-19 patients’ recovery facilities and medical facilities.

Salaries were removed from job postings on e2i’s website on Friday afternoon.