ARD Olympic man Lufen | Corona infection during flight to China
Sportschau reporter Claus Lufen speaks from the quarantine hotel in China. The Winter Olympics begin there next Friday Photo: Sportschau.de
Micro room instead of man at the mike!
ARD presenter Claus Lufen tested positive for Corona on his arrival at Beijing airport on Thursday. And is now sitting in quarantine in a run-down ski resort, not allowed to leave his 15-square-meter room.
Before leaving Germany, Lufen had three PCR tests, all of which were negative.
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The Sportschau man to BILD am SONNTAG: "I don’t think about it so much. I’ll get through the six to ten days somehow, I also have zero symptoms. But for the athletes it will affect, it is dramatic." Because they can basically forget about their competition after a week without training.
From the airport he was taken first to his actual hotel, then to the quarantine hotel. "The only thing you can criticize the Chinese for is this long time period. Eleven hours from landing to hotel in the mountains, because they chug along here at 40, 50 km/h. One or two pee breaks standing in the cold with 50 others, that’s undignified," he says.
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How is the quarantine hostel? "A slightly older ski resort from the 80s/90s, slight cracks in the walls covered with wallpaper. But it’s clean, you can shower reasonably. But 15 square meters is not optimal. There the cover falls surely after a few days on the head."
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As far as the supply is concerned, he cannot complain. "The food is relatively extensive, three times a day, also with fruit. Not too tasty though, and you can’t choose it, but you can get by with it."
Drinks he orders from the testers or those who bring the food. Problem: "No one speaks English. Everything runs through a translation program on the cell phone."
After landing in quarantine: Claus Lufen tested positive for Corona in Beijing Photo: picture alliance / foto2press
Curious: "Whoever enters my room disinfects the doorstep. Even the ambulance I was brought in was disinfected – from the outside, after I got in. A lot of overzealousness. All people covered from top to bottom, except the bus driver. This looks like science fiction. You don’t see any normal citizens," says Lufen.
In the hotel he is by far not the only one. "New people arrive here all the time. A Russian coach is in the room next to me. No idea how bad it will get."
And how bad the loneliness becomes. For the pre-reporting he flew extra earlier. "It sucks to be sitting around instead of working here. I have no fear or psychological problems. It’s a strange feeling, but I recognize the need for it."
Does the Olympics even make sense under these conditions?? Not for the moderator. "Under these conditions, it is ludicrous that the Olympics are being held here. It should have been postponed for a year. It’s neither fun nor does it make sense."