Coronavirus: Hong Kong government schools to deploy 5,000 staff to help during mass testing
- Teachers’ union says Education Bureau told representatives on Wednesday that school employees would be required to help at mass testing centres
- Education staff to perform supporting roles, such as distributing care kits and supervising logistics
About 5,000 staff members from Hong Kong’s government schools will be roped in to support Covid-19 testing centres when the city rolls out its mass screening drive, education authorities have revealed.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yeut-ngor said authorities still needed to prepare for mass testing, despite the scheme not being considered an immediate priority.
According to the Union of Government School Teachers, the Education Bureau met school representatives on the same day to tell them that all employees from the 65 campuses would assist at mass testing centres, with the exception of any pregnant members of staff.
The bureau also said that all eligible members of staff would be required to work one of two eight-hour shifts every day, the union added.
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Last month, schools were asked to bring forward their summer break from this week until the end of the Easter holiday in April, to allow campuses to be used for mass testing.