Police Bust Fake Nurses at Beijing COVID-19 Testing Site

By Alistair Baker-Brian

Nucleic acid testing for COVID-19 has become routine for many of us in China. What we don’t often hear about is people posing as nurses to work at nucleic testing sites. But, that’s exactly what happened in Beijing. 

In Shisanling county, Changping district, Beijing, a routine check of procedures at a COVID-19 testing site revealed that something wasn’t quite right. Two men, aged 35 and 36 years old, were found to have been using fake nurses qualifications to work at the site, as reported by China Chang’an Net (中国长安网). 

The pair was reported to police in Changping district and later arrested. The investigation is ongoing. 

The men were likely trying to get their hands on a slice of China’s COVID-19-testing pie. Search for COVID-19-related jobs on any of China’s big recruitment websites, and you’ll notice a seemingly endless list of open positions at testing sites. 

While some positions do not specify required qualifications, many others state that an official nursing qualification is needed. 

Some reports suggest that some of those working at nucleic acid testing sites can earn up to RMB2,000 per day. 

We had a look on 58同城招聘, a popular recruitment site on the Chinese mainland. Many employment packages at testing sites in Beijing offered meals and accommodation on top of a basic salary package. 

The highest salary we found was RMB46,800 per month, though the job post was a little sparse on details (there may well be some strings attached). 

Nucleic acid testing is now part of life for many China. Recently, during the citywide lockdown in Shanghai, daily mass testing has been a requirement for the city’s residents. 

In Beijing, daily mass testing has been targeted towards districts where new cases of COVID-19 have recently emerged. 

Across China, proof of a negative nucleic acid test result is often required to travel to certain areas. 

With this in mind, don’t expect employment opportunities at testing sites to go away any time soon, especially with China’s continuation of ‘zero-COVID.’ 

It’s perhaps no surprise that many people will be drawn by the employment opportunities, particularly the financial remuneration. 

However, just in case you were thinking about it, fake nurses qualifications won’t help you.

[Cover image via Weibo/@南方周末]

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