Big Brother Germany Houseguests Will Hear About the Pandemic Tonight on a Live Special Episode

On February 6, 14 houseguests entered the Big Brother house in Cologne, where they are competing in the country’s 13th season of the reality TV show Big Brother. The contestants, most of whom are in their 20s and 30s, are staying in a glass house and adjacent log cabin-style home in Cologne, in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

When they entered the house the coronavirus was only just starting to spread outside of Wuhan in China. Since then, they have been cut off from updates from the outside world, except once, when the show introduced four more housemates on 6 March, three days before Germany would report its first death from the virus. Since then, the COVID-19 has become a global pandemic and they have no idea– until tonight.

“Of course, the residents will be informed if there is reason to do so,” the show’s producers for German station Sat.1 initially told German paper Süddeutsche Zeitung. “Which information is given to the residents from outside is also decided in exchange with the relatives.”

They also claimed “special hygiene measures” were being taken to protect the contestants.

There will be a live special episode, due to air before the regular slot at 7PM tonight, in which the housemates will be told of the growing crisis. They will be given the opportunity to ask questions to the show’s resident doctor, the state of the nation, as well as receive video messages from their relatives.

As of this afternoon, Germany had more than 7,900 recorded confirmed cases and 20 deaths.

The country’s 57,000 daycare centers (Kitas) are closed, as are the 43,000 schools. Events have been canceled, religious services are banned and people have been urged not to travel.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German government has also ordered a partial shutdown of public life, with non-essential shops and playgrounds closing, plus restricted restaurant opening hours.

The current series of Big Brother Germany still has nine weeks left to run.

Part of Big Brother History! https://t.co/e1N81TiVGP

— BigBrotherJunkie👁 (@89razorskate20) March 17, 2020