Kate Langbroek has been holed up with her family inside their Bologna apartment for a week amid Italy’s deadly coronavirus outbreak.
The 54-year-old radio presenter is one of 16 million Italian residents currently in lockdown as parts of the country are placed under ‘red zone’ quarantine restrictions.
‘Woke up this morning to the news of red zones: regions adjacent to bologna (but not here – yet?) No travel in or out,’ Kate wrote on Instagram on Monday, posting a map of northern Italy that showed the quarantined areas.
Kate Langbroek’s cornavirus nightmare gets WORSE: Radio star, 54, trapped in Bologna as schools, gyms, cinemas and even supermarkets are shut down – after 366 die in the country and ‘red zones’ are enforced. Pictured in October 2019
‘No pools, no gyms, no theatres or cinemas. Supermarkets open Monday to Friday only,’ she added, along with the poignant hashtag ‘closing in’.
Kate insisted she’s remaining optimistic, however, adding the hashtags: ‘still lovely here’ and ‘no panic’.
On Saturday, Italian authorities announced the total number of cases in the nation was 7,375, while the death toll soared to 360.
‘Woke up this morning to the news of red zones’: On Monday, Kate posted a map of northern Italy that showed the quarantined areas (pictured)
Nightmare: ‘No pools, no gyms, no theatres or cinemas. Supermarkets open Monday to Friday only,’ she wrote, along with the poignant hashtag ‘closing in’
Italy has overtaken South Korea as the country with the second highest recorded number of coronavirus cases outside China.
The government issued a lockdown of the Lombardy region on Sunday, as well as 14 other provinces, with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announcing: ‘We are facing an emergency, a national emergency.’
Meanwhile, Kate has been home schooling her four children since last week, due to the nationwide closure of education facilities.
Safety precaution: Meanwhile, Kate has been home schooling her four children since last week, due to the nationwide closure of education facilities. Pictured: Kate’s family having breakfast last Tuesday
Last Tuesday, she shared footage of her children studying in their bedrooms, along with the caption: ‘Home school. Day two of coronavirus lockdown’.
Kate’s children appeared to be fed up with the situation, with 14-year-old Sunday asking her mother to stop filming her.
Kate also shared a photo of the view from her front door. Bologna’s central square, Piazza Maggiore, looked eerily empty without its usual mix of tourists and locals.
Lockdown: ‘Home school. Day two of coronavirus lockdown,’ Kate wrote on Instagram alongside footage of her four children studying in their bedrooms last Tuesday
‘Since I moved to Bologna last January, I have never seen the main piazza so empty. On a Tuesday at 1.30… there is no panic here; the shelves are stocked, but the restaurants are empty and the streets are quiet,’ she wrote.
Late last month, Kate and her husband, Peter Allen Lewis, found themselves trapped in Venice during the Carnevale di Venezia festival.
The couple had travelled 150km without their children for the annual celebrations, before parts of the city went into lockdown and they were unsure how to get home.
Frustrating: Kate’s children appeared to be fed up with the situation, with 14-year-old Sunday (right) asking her mother to stop filming her
‘I have never seen it so empty’: Kate also shared this photo of the view from her front door. Bologna’s central square, Piazza Maggiore, looked eerily empty without its usual mix of tourists and locals
Speaking to Hughesy and Ed at the time, Kate revealed that the streets and canals of Venice had been eerily empty amid the crisis.
She said: ‘Walking through Venice… it was like a ghost town last night, even though there were still Carnival events on during the day. The news broke yesterday that they were cancelling Carnival today and tomorrow. That’s huge news.’
Kate made light of the situation by joking that the lockdown could have been a good excuse to extend her Venetian holiday.
Holiday from hell! Kate’s update comes a week after she and her husband, Peter Allen Lewis (left), found themselves trapped in Venice during the Carnevale di Venezia festival
Scary: The couple had travelled 150km without their children for the annual celebrations, before parts of the city went into lockdown and they were unsure how to get home
‘Peter and I were like, “Hang on a minute, if we get quarantined in Venice, our four children are at home with a babysitter in Bologna. Does that mean we get two weeks of holidays?”‘ she said.
However, this didn’t happen, as Kate explained she’d managed to book train tickets out of Venice for herself and her husband.
Kate and Peter 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.
La dolce vita! Kate and Peter relocated to Italy with their four children in January 2019 for what was supposed to be a ‘gap year’. They have since extended their stay for another 12 months