How former AFL fitness coach endured a nine-week lockdown in China

Former AFL fitness coach Loris Bertolacci went into lockdown in China nine weeks ago and only emerged this week. He talks to Mark Robinson about the experience and has a warning for all Australians. 

On Tuesday, Loris Bertolacci ended a nine-week lockdown in China, the last two weeks of it in a single room in a Shanghai sports compound.

Yesterday, he walked around Shanghai like a child in Disneyland for the first time — wide-eyed, a bit giddy and with a sense of freedom. “It’s going to be quite a day,” he said.

The former Essendon, Collingwood, Geelong and Western Bulldogs consultant and high-performance manager has a story to tell.

It’s of his own drawn-out experience in the country that spawned the COVID-19 virus, and contains a warning of sorts for everyone in Australia who may experience a national lockdown.

He said the loss of freedom, the realities of isolation and the challenging mental hurdles that accompany quarantine were confronting.

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His experience started in January when Bertolacci was working at a sports institute campus in Kunming in southern China as a strength and conditioning coach for cyclists.

The spread of the virus hit home for him the day before lockdown was ordered — January 23.

“The mental stages I went through were very interesting,” Bertolacci said.

“The night before the camp went into lockdown, I went into the city with the coach to get some coffee and stuff, and it was already game on. It was a ghost city. That was very scary. And when we did lock down, and they gave me the food tray, I initially thought my ­liberty was taken away and it felt very confronting.

“You know, ‘Oh my God, I can’t get out of the compound, I can’t get out of the camp’.

“Straight away, which was quite different to Australia, we weren’t able to eat in the dining room any more, we were given a tray, we had to go and pick up our food, we weren’t ­allowed to eat with the athletes, we had to eat in our rooms, we got our temperature taken three times a day.

“All the athletes in the institute, probably about 600, were in lockdown; nobody could move.”

Loris Bertolacci with former Hawthorn footballer Nick Holland.

TO STAY OR GO HOME?

And so began a life of strict rules. Bertolacci had to eat in his room. He could work out in the gym and walk around the compound. And he could ­access the internet, tracking the spread of virus that eventually would bring the world to a virtual standstill.

“As time went on, I was able to rationalise that my situation was OK,” Bertolacci said.

“I got over the confronting feeling of being behind gates and guards.”

Twice Bertolacci made plans to fly home to Australian — in early February then late February — and twice he ­cancelled.

“That was a decision ­between myself and my wife,” he said. “There was too much risk flying home and I was safer in the compound.”

Bertolacci had a major issue, though. To remain in China, he was required to renew his work and visa permits and that had to be done in Shanghai — and that meant he had to fly there.

“The rule was, if you cross provinces in China, you had to go into quarantine in a room for two weeks,” he said.

This was vastly different to life in Kunming. There, he could leave his room. In Shanghai, he couldn’t.

“I didn’t want to fly, I didn’t want to be in a room for two weeks — no, no, no, please, please, please,” he said.

“I’d had enough. My mind went again, it went all negative. But I just couldn’t get out of it.”

Loris Bertolacci stretching former Cat during his time as Geelong fitness coordinator.

PASSING THE TIME IN LOCKDOWN

After arrival in Shanghai, and after a thorough cleansing process at the airport, he was assigned a room at the Shanghai Sports Institute.

It was a typical hotel room … open the door, enter, bathroom immediately on the left, wardrobe on the right, a bench for coffee and cups, two single beds, small desk and a balcony.

“The room’s pretty nice, but it’s a room,” he said. “I have to admit the first few days I was angry and then I was, OK, what can I do so I don’t get too stressed or anxious?”

A fitness guru, he worked out, and worked out, and worked out.

He walked 10,000 steps a day and configured weights from water cartons. Three times a day, food was left at his door and three times a day his temperature was taken.

He communicated with family in Australia and his daughter in Switzerland online and listened to podcasts, didn’t watch TV, and powered into ­research for his job.

Tempted, he left his room once. He opened the door, turned left, walked six metres, and got a phone call from the “watchers” who told him ­immediately to return to his room.

It was a mini adventure.

“You know, once you change your mindset from being really negative, you say to yourself, OK, let’s deal with this,” he said.

His weights made from water cartons during quarantine in China in March 2020. Picture: Supplied

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ADVICE FOR AUSSIES

He has watched the goings-on in Australia from afar with interest and, at times, disdain.

He thought it was a staggeringly bad decision for the AFL to play Round 1.

He thought the packed Bondi Beach was naive.

“It was predictable,” he said. “Obviously Australians have a ‘she’ll be right’ attitude and ‘it won’t happen to me’.

“There’s a difficulty for ­people to understand the word ­exponentially — you know, two times two equals four; four times four equals 16; and 16 times 16 is … and suddenly it is 20,000.

“That’s a difficult concept for some. When I saw that (Bondi) photo, I basically thought there were a---holes or ignorant people there, or there’s people who think they’re bulletproof.

“The clamp wasn’t on and it should have been.”

He thought the North Melbourne players having a party was ridiculous.

“That was a very poor ­situation,” he said.

“A, they weren’t told not to do that, and, B, just the fact they said, ‘Well, if we’ll get the virus we get it together’. Stupid idiots, they’re going to give it to everyone else.”

He doesn’t want to lecture Australians, but warns people should be prepared for total lockdown, if it comes.

“Just make small and ­realistic goals,” he said.

“It’s critical you stay healthy. Keeping fit and active is critical because that will help your mental wellbeing.

“Then obviously it’s about finding things you like to do.

“Be active. Have a project in your garden. Do some exercise. Work out how to make gains through this period, like study, or learn a language, or do 50 push-ups a day. Just make goals and make sure you ­connect with people.”

NOT OUT OF THE WOODS

Yesterday’s venture around Shanghai was allowed because Bertolacci has an app on his phone (pictured below) that declares him healthy and having completed quarantine. He needs it to enter city offices.

His next problem comes when he returns to Kunming. Because he’s flying again, he’ll likely be quarantined in a room for another two weeks.

“If I do, I’ve accepted that,” he said. “I’m mentally preparing for it now.”

The ID that Loris Bertolacci had to use while in China lockdown.

Originally published as How former AFL fitness coach endured a nine-week lockdown in China