Zhejiang Greentown striker Nyasha Mushekwi has returned to full training with his teammates and says that life in China is close to normal after a lockdown period forced by the coronavirus pandemic.
Mushekwi returned to China from Zimbabwe on March 22 and went into a mandatory 14-day quarantine, before joining his teammates for training last week.
He was the latest Zhejiang Greentown player to join full training after his South African teammate Dino Ndlovu, who had arrived in Hangzhou a day before him.
League One side Zhejiang Greentown, just like many Chinese clubs, are training under strict conditions including testing both playing and non-playing staff for coronavirus every seven days.
“We started training. When I arrived, I was in quarantine for 14 days but I have joined my teammates at training now. Everything is good. Life is almost back in China so it’s quite a good thing. Everything else has been okay,” Mushekwi told The Herald.
The Chinese football season was scheduled to kick off in February but has now been tentatively set to start at the end of May or the beginning of June.
“For the [resumption] of the league, there is no news yet, we are hoping to hear something from the [Chinese] FA soon,” said Mushekwi.
With China having lifted their lockdown in March and appearing to have managed to contain the coronavirus outbreak, ex-Mamelodi Sundowns star Mushekwi says even life away from football is almost back to normal.
“It is like normal life. I can go out buy my groceries and come back to my house but they are not encouraging people to move around so much, so you just have to limit yourself from doing anything much,” Mushekwi said.
“I just relax at home, go to training and come back home unless if you really want to be out and buy some stuff.
"Besides, I stay close to the shops, so you don’t really have to travel for it’s just a walk away. But the good thing is that people are now living their normal lives."
While most Chinese teams have resumed training, some Bundesliga teams including Bayern Munich have also returned to training, although in small groups.
