Andrew Neal with his street that is usually full of people. Photo / Supplied
Andrew Neal with his street that is usually full of people. Photo / Supplied
The street where Tauranga man Andrew Neal lives in Italy is usually abuzz with people, but today the street is unlikely to see a single person.
The odd delivery truck or maybe even a tumbleweed is the most action the street will see after the country was placed in nationallockdown two days ago.
Covid-19 cases have soared and the nation was now being dubbed as the new centre for the world's pandemic.
Neal, who previously worked in Ōpōtiki, teaches English in the northeastern town of Trieste and said although the country had slowly been increasing restrictions, the past week had seen a landslide of change.
He said he first became aware of the virus escalating in the nation at the start of February.
The school holidays were on and Neal had been travelling around Europe. He came back to work to news that the school would not be reopening.
He said they thought the children would be away for maybe a day or two, but staff were still at work making online learning plans.
Children were still travelling around the country, with others heading abroad with what felt like an "extended holiday" for them, he said.
As the infected and death toll rose, the Government decided to prolong the school's closure and the response "escalated".
First, all travel was suspended in and out of the country.
Neal said he had a colleague who had a sister over from the United States, who had three flights cancelled before she managed to get out at the last minute.
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Children were learning from home and everything was on a "day-to-day" about what was going to happen next.
Parts of Italy had started to go into quarantine as the situation continued to grow.
Within a few days, all restaurants and cafes were closed and social gatherings halted.
The street Neal lived on that was usually full of people at all hours turned into a ghost town.
"Everything just went dead quiet ... the whole town completely changed."
Italian people were normally such an "affectionate bunch" and now they were obeying metre-apart rules and everyone donned face masks, he said.
Andrew Neal on a busy Italian street before the lockdown. Photo / Supplied
Neal was used to having his morning coffee at the bar surrounded by people and spending his afternoons having snacks with colleagues at one of the many thriving cafes.
He said it was "natural progression" and almost expected the next step would be a full lockdown.
Neal was now confined to his apartment and was teaching his children online.
The most common feedback from his students was that they were beyond bored locked inside.
From his apartment, he often saw families playing with small children on balconies just to get them some fresh air and break the cabin fever.
He said interestingly, there were no "mad rushes" for supplies here like he had seen in other countries.
The Italian people were "quite calm about things" and were not in a "state of hysteria".
"I haven't seen any shelf clearing here ... although it is impossible to get hand sanitiser."
Supermarkets and necessity stores were still open and Neal was able to go there briefly to pick up supplies when needed.
He said he was cheeky and occasionally went for walks. He was astonished about how the town had changed.
He found it interesting there was so much hysteria in countries the virus had not even taken full hold in yet.
The Italian people were "concerned, not panicked".
He said they were just trying to "look after each other". Neighbours were constantly checking in on one another.
There was also a campaign going on around the country with colourful banners and posters hanging from doors and balconies saying "everything is okay".
Neal said he had finally succumbed to buying Netflix and spent a bit of time "binging" since the lockdown came in.
He said it was "difficult to plan for the future" as they did not know when life would get back to normal.
He had tickets and festivals booked for the coming months, but everything was "so uncertain".
The school he worked at would be closed until April.
Neal's advice for his New Zealand counterparts on the other side of the world was to "look out for each other, especially tho1se who will be worst affected".
He said this was the time to be more "community-minded".
