Australian cleaners have been offered an all-expense paid trip to Japan in exchange for risking their lives to clean a cruise ship contaminated with the coronavirus.
Cleaning company, Broadspeactrum, sent a text message to cleaners who work mainly in schools on Monday offering them temporary employment in Japan.
The message read: ‘A really great opportunity has arrived. Would you like to earn some good money … all you need is a valid passport to go to Japan and clean for 6 days’.
One of the cleaners claimed she was told she would be cleaning the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which was forced into lockdown for more than two weeks due to an outbreak of the deadly virus.
The virus infected more than 690 passengers on board the luxury cruise and has killed more than 2,200 people worldwide.
The cleaner said she was shocked at the offer as she believes it is a high-risk job.
Australian cleaners have been offered an all-expense paid trip to Japan in exchange for risking their lives to clean a cruise ship contaminated with the coronavirus
Cleaning company, Broadspeactrum, sent a text message to staff on Monday offering them temporary employment in Japan
‘I said, are you serious? What compensation do you get if you die?
‘I can’t believe that the company is putting our cleaners at risk. This is a virus that can kill people.’
The owner of the ship has been searching for the ‘best-in-class cleaning and disinfection service provider’ since passengers disembarked the vessel last week.
United Workers Union has urged staff not to consider the offer as it is specialised cleaning, requiring extra training and equipment.
‘We also don’t know what the health and safety rules are in Japan so would be concerned that appropriate steps are not being taken to protect workers.’
Lyndal Ryan, United Workers Union director of property services said it seemed that Broadspectrum saw their cleaners as disposable.
‘The information provided is unbelievably scanty for the huge expectation that some of their workforce will put up their hands for one of the most perilous cleaning jobs in the world at the moment.
Four Australians evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship on Thursday are confirmed to have coronavirus
‘We are very concerned with this targeting of our members employed in schools.
‘Our members have specific skills and knowledge in cleaning the state’s education facilities, not in cleaning during an extreme public health crisis in another country.
‘We are also concerned that Broadspectrum are not across the current upgraded Australian Government warnings on travel to Japan.’
A spokeswoman for Broadspectrum told the Sydney Morning Herald staff would not be cleaning the ship.
She said they would be working from a ‘sanitised facility’ provided by the Japanese government to support the quarantine efforts.
‘All of our people who have nominated themselves to support the quarantine efforts in Japan will go through the highest level of medical safety advice and support before and while working there.
‘This will be under the strictest safety and medical processes managed by Aspen Medical.’
Japan Self-Defence Forces officers use canvas sheets to cover the walkway from the cruise ship Diamond Princess
Carnival Corporation, which represents Princess Cruises, issued a statement saying it requires cleaners who the capability to sanitize the vessel to stringent standards set by CDC, WHO and the Japanese government.
‘All carpets, drapes and furniture must be disinfected, and all cabin textiles (and mattresses) must be discarded.’
The call for cleaners comes as the Department of Foreign Affairs warned travellers to reconsider their travel plans to Japan and South Korea.
Travellers are being told to exercise a high degree of caution in both countries.
‘Monitor your health closely and follow the advice of local authorities’.
Medical personnel outside the quarantine zone in front of the Diamond Princess cruise ship. The boat now hosts the largest concentration of coronavirus outside of China
The Diamond Princess cruise ship with some 3,700 people on board arrives at Yokohama port
There are 47 Australians receiving medical treatment in Japan after testing positive to coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19.
Another 170 have been flown back to Australia after evacuating the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama last week.
Seven evacuees have tested positive to COVID-19 since their arrival in Darwin, with six sent back to their home states for treatment and the seventh being transferred on Monday.
The remaining cruise ship passengers will be quarantined at Howard Springs for at least two weeks.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Broadspectrum for comment.