Australian radio personality Kate Langbroek has been documenting the stark reality of life in Italy amid the coronavirus crisis.
And on Sunday, Kate shared a foreboding photograph of four officers with ‘Polizia’ branded on their jackets patrolling the locked-down streets of Bologna.
Taking to Instagram, Kate wrote: ‘On patrol,’ sharing a number of hashtags under the snap including lockdown, covid and coronavirus.
On patrol: Kate Langbroek shared a foreboding photograph of four police officers patrolling the streets of Bologna on Sunday, amid Italy’s lockdown due to coronavirus
Former co-host Dave Hughes appeared to lighten the mood of the image, with the comedian cracking a joke about the pandemic.
‘Are they looking for sneezers?’ he wrote.
Kate shared another photograph on Saturday, showing a breakfast she made for her family of baked beans and scrambled eggs on a bread roll.
‘Cheerful breakfast,’ she wrote under the photo, while letting fans know she was getting low on tins of baked beans.
Cheerful: Earlier, Kate showed a breakfast of scrambled eggs, baked beans and a bun, as she let followers know she was on her last tin of the non-perishable favourite
Kate appeared via satellite from ‘lockdown’ in her apartment in Bologna, to give another update on Weekend Today on Saturday.
Kate, 54, revealed police were patrolling the city to conduct bag checks on those who were out during the region’s ‘total lockdown’.
She said that everything in the city, except for essential services, such as supermarkets, post offices, banks and tobacconists, have been closed.
Checks: On Saturday, Kate revealed Italian authorities conduct ‘bag checks’ on Bologna residents seen out during ‘total lockdown’ amid the coronavirus crisis in the country
‘You’re only allowed to go out to go shopping for groceries and you can get stopped by the police who will check in your bag to see that that’s what you’re doing outside.
Kate explained that life in the once lively city has now become ‘so eerily quiet’.
‘The shops that you normally go to are empty, to the point where you wonder how they’re staying in business and where other people are getting their food from.’
Empty: Kate told Weekend Today on Saturday that everything in the city is closed, except for essential services (a few people walking through Piazza Maggiore)
She also recalled a recent trip to their local mixed deli shop, where the five employees working were all wearing masks.
‘For the first time ever, we had to stand outside. You weren’t allowed to enter the shop. You could only enter one at a time, but there was only one other person there besides us.
‘You go to the butcher, there is no-one there… It is just eerily, ominously, strangely quiet,’ Kate said.
Restricted outings: Kate explained that the only time people are allowed to go out is to go grocery shopping, but she added ‘you can get stopped by the police who will check in your bag to see that that’s what you’re doing outside’ (Kate’s sons Artie and Jan)
Kate and her family are one of millions of Italian residents staying at home as parts of the country are placed under ‘red zone’ quarantine restrictions.
She and her husband, Peter Allen Lewis, relocated to Italy with their four children, Lewis, Sunday, Artie and Jan, in January 2019 for what was supposed to be a ‘gap year.’
They have since extended their stay for another 12 months.
Back on home soil: As of Sunday night, there were 298 reported cases of coronavirus, and a death toll at four
Expats: Kate and her husband, Peter Allen Lewis, relocated to Italy with their four children, Lewis, Sunday, Artie and Jan, in January 2019 for what was supposed to be a ‘gap year.’ They have since extended their stay for another 12 months