Kate Langbroek and her family are living in Bologna, which has become a ghost city amid Italy’s deadly coronavirus outbreak that has killed 463 people.
On Tuesday, the 54-year-old radio presenter hilariously compared Italy and Australia’s reaction to the disease – but said she ‘has faith’ in the European nation.
Speaking on The Project via webcam, Kate said: ‘They’re (Italians) not stockpiling toilet paper and slugging it out in the aisles of Woolies over a six pack of double ply!’
‘They’re not stockpiling toilet paper!’ Appearing on The Project on Tuesday, Kate Langbroek (pictured) said she ‘has faith’ in Italy’s response to coronavirus – as she’s trapped in Bologna with her children
By comparison, Kate described Italians as ‘educated, civilized, decent, warm and clever people’ despite having ‘complicated bureaucracies’.
‘At some point you have to have to have faith in the system,’ she said.
‘All of these measures are to protect old people because Italy’s got the oldest population in all of Europe – it’s a country of old people.’
The family: Kate Langbroek and her family (pictured) are living in Bologna, which has become a ghost city amid Italy ‘s deadly coronavirus outbreak that has killed 463 people
Schools in Italy are shut down, so Kate and her husband Peter Allen Lewis have been home schooling their four children since last week.
‘There’s no school so kids aren’t getting it from each other and spreading it through the community,’ Kate said.
‘Aside from anything else, we’re home with our freaking kids all day! Forget coronavirus, could anything be worse than that?’
Home but not alone! Schools in Italy are shut down, so Kate and her husband Peter Allen Lewis have been home schooling their four children since last week. Pictured: Two of Kate’s sons studying at home
Despite reports that she and her family were trapped in her Bologna apartment, Kate said they can travel around freely.
‘On the weekend, we went for a lovely drive to Tuscany. Now’s the time to see the country, it was very quiet!’ she joked.
‘You can leave the house. Outside, the supermarket’s normal, the market’s normal but it’s all very quiet.
‘There’s food on the shelves, there’s no one panicking. I still haven’t seen anyone except for tourists wearing masks.’
Vibing! Despite reports that she and her family were trapped in her Bologna apartment, Kate and her family drove to Tuscany on the weekend. Pictured: Two of Kate’s sons in Tuscany
In good spirits: Earlier in the day, Kate shared a video of herself cycling through an empty town square in Bologna
Earlier in the day, Kate shared a video of herself cycling through an empty town square in Bologna.
‘Okay, I’m in the piazza (plaza), it’s pretty quiet. I’ve got the essentials, wine, milk, bread. Let’s see what happens in this coronavirus environment,’ she said in the clip.
The clip was captioned: ‘First day in orange zone lockdown.’
On Monday, Kate showed a map of Italy showing all of the ‘red zone’ quarantine areas surrounding Bologna, which was more severe than the current ‘orange zone’.
‘Woke up this morning to the news of red zones’: On Monday, Kate shared this map of northern Italy showing the quarantined areas surrounding Bologna. Bologna isn’t visible on the map, but it is approximately 43km south east of Modena
In Italy, at least 9,172 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus and 463 people have died from it.
The European nation has overtaken South Korea as the country with the second highest recorded number of coronavirus cases outside China.
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.
Safety precaution: Kate has been home schooling her four children since last week due to the nationwide closure of education facilities. Pictured: her family having breakfast last Tuesday
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.
‘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
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.
When in Venice! Kate made light of the situation by joking that the lockdown could have been a good excuse to extend her Venetian holiday
‘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.
Holiday from hell: Late last month, Kate and her husband, Peter Allen Lewis (left), found themselves trapped in Venice during the Carnevale di Venezia festival