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An East Yorkshire woman living in Milan has described the “worrying situation” as Italian authorities scramble to contain an outbreak of coronavirus.

Caroline Hodges, 25, moved to Italy from her hometown of Tickton in 2014 to work as an au pair and has since settled in the northern city.

However, she said the area has gone into a "blind panic" after more than 300 people have tested positive for disease.

She said: "The situation is worrying at the moment as nobody knows how many people have been infected.

"It all started with this so-called 'patient zero' who returned to Lombardy from China and was tested negative for coronavirus when actually they had it.

"They then went about their everyday life and spread it to numerous people who spread it to others, because of this, it’s not actually known how many people may have been infected and everybody has gone into blind panic.”

There are currently eleven towns in the Lombardy and Veneto regions of Italy under complete lock down and although Milan has not been quarantined life in the city has been severely disrupted.

Caroline said shelves of supermarkets have been left empty as people prepare for the worst.

"Most of the stock has run out as people have been panic buying,” she said

"People have gone a little over the top in some ways, by clearing out the supermarkets.

"It's important to take it seriously at this time to prevent further spreading of the virus, but we're not on lock-down yet."

Posters have been placed in the streets declaring the closure of nurseries, schools, universities, museums, cinemas, public offices and other cultural places open to the public.

And café, bars and restaurants have been placed under strict curfews as authorities attempt to control the outbreak.

She said: “The authorities are still trying to trace this 'patient zero', but so far, we haven’t been able to.

“This week is crucial for trying to contain the virus as much as possible before it spreads even further, which is why we are being told to stay at home wherever necessary and all events where large numbers of people would gather have been cancelled.

“Of course now there are the people from the UK and other countries who recently travelled to Italy who could have caught it.

“I think it's the uncertainty that bothers me the most. I'm not worried about having it but it's worrying as nobody understands how much it’s managed to spread.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before, the Italians are usually very healthy and happy.”