German 'Big Brother' cast to be told about coronavirus pandemic live on air

The German cast of the reality TV series Big Brother is going to be informed about the global coronavirus pandemic on-air, in a special episode that will be broadcast this week.

According to a report by British tabloid newspaper The Metro, this season's contestants have had no idea about how contagious the Covid-19 virus is, or about the mass quarantines all over Europe.

Simpsons fans believe that this episode might have referenced actor Tom Hanks catching the coronavirus already: 

[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/B9cJd8yQ-sKUnNGKf.mp4||B9cJd8yQ]]

The group has had no updates regarding the situation since entering the house on 6 February, and now the network has announced a live special episode, due to air before the normal 7 pm timeslot on Tuesday evening, to get the castmates up to speed.

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/N_Waters89/status/1239876041516163078]]

The housemates will be permitted to ask the show's host, Jochen Schropp, as well as Big Brother doctor Dr. Andreas Kaniewski, questions about the state of the crisis, and receive a few video messages from their friends and relatives.

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Landgans/status/1228382500323504128]]

Last week the World Health Organization granted the coronavirus pandemic status, writing in a statement: "WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic."

The statement continued: "Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death."

At the time of writing, there have now been 188,297 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across 114 countries worldwide, and a total of 7,499 deaths.