BGI Group recruited people without medical background or relevant work experience as swabbers for coronavirus tests, a former employee revealed to Apple Daily.

The mobile testing stations run by the Chinese lab have been suspended by the Hong Kong government pending an investigation, after multiple testing mishaps. They include 28 false positives as well as the failure to detect a highly infectious mutated strain of COVID-19 in a 38-year-old Filipino domestic worker.

The former employee, who was recruited through an intermediary to be a swabber, said he only received three days of training.

Many of his coworkers, including university students studying business management and early childhood education, as well as former flight attendants, had no medical background or relevant work experience. Some have not grasped the procedures of collecting nasal and throat swab when they took up the task.

Registered nurses at the mobile testing stations were also gradually replaced by swabbers like him.

He has seen coworkers taking samples by swabbing the palate or molar teeth, instead of the back of the throat near the tonsil. He also learnt from one of the patients undergoing the test that his coworker had only collected a nasal sample, without doing an additional deep-throat swab.

The multiple test errors of cases at the Ramada Hong Kong Grand, where health authorities suspected cross-infections at the quarantine hotel, are likely due to the inaccuracy of sample-taking, he added.

He was fired by the intermediary earlier this month, after a dispute with the manager over the roster. But he did not receive any compensation, including payment in lieu of notice. His contract is with the intermediary instead of the BGI Group and is not protected by Employees’ Compensation Ordinance.

He has filed a complaint to the Labour Department, accusing the Shenzhen-based firm of enlisting swabbers through false self-employment to cut cost.

In a reply to Apple Daily’s queries, the BGI Group stressed they are highly concerned about the performance level of their swabbers. To ensure their work and procedures can meet government standards, the firm conducts random checks to make sure the swabbers can execute their tasks accurately and those who have received multiple complaints would be terminated.

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