The Madrid technician tells his blog about the coronavirus, after having lived experiences in different countries
Rafa Bentez, during a Dalian match.
A green card to show that they are free of coronavirus. That is what all the players of Rafa Bentez's Dalian Pro had to get as soon as they stepped onto Chinese soil. The experience has been told by the Madrid technician in his blog trying to provide a vision of a pandemic that has seen how it is faced in mainland China, Hong Kong, England and Spain.
For Bentez's team, the Covid outburst caught him out of China. He had completed the first part of the preseason in mid-January in Xiamen. “When we finished that first phase, China was already beginning to take the first measures for the containment of COVID-19. Hygienic measures and the confinement of the population by regions to reduce the risk of contagion,” he explains.
“With a mask, glasses, gloves and antibacterial gel”, as recommended in China, Bentez traveled to Liverpool to see his family and from there went to Marbella to the concentration of his team, which flew just before the border closure.
The spread of the disease in Italy and initially in Spain caught him in San Pedro del Pinatar, in the second part of the European stage. They never had any suspicion of illness. “Our protocol with the team included taking the temperature twice a day, and disinfecting our hands whenever we got together to eat. We were in a more remote area of the hotel and should not leave the premises,” he says.
The return to China
The difference in how to face the risk of contagion was experienced when they returned to China in late February. “The first thing we did was each go to his room, isolated. They called us to do the PCR test and from that moment, we were without leaving the room the following 14 days, we and the staff who stayed with us all the time. weather”.
“The food was delivered to us in the famous 'tuppers' and bags, with plastic cutlery, all disposable and the employees always came to deliver it, perfectly protected with gloves, mask, glasses and the special suit,” he explains.
“Fortunately no one tested positive and at the end of the 14 days, again test for everyone and then they give you a 'green card' so you can show it in any establishment you go to to demonstrate that you do not have the virus. That may be the reality of the teams if the competition resumes, great caution and a lot of control, not only of the footballers, but of all the personnel in contact with them, “he warns.
Bentez says that once the quarantine is over, “the use of masks is normal to move around the street, antibacterial gel is everywhere, washing hands with soap and water is a constant and maintaining the 'safety distance' is something you have in your head without having to think about it. “
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