Turin, the Italian city I’ve found myself in, has been in lockdown for more than a week now and I wonder if the experiences of the Torinese can tell us anything about how we will respond to a total shutdown in Britain if it comes.

One intriguing difference is in panic buying. I’ve heard the reports of it happening back home but seen no sign of it here (or in the ski resort where I was staying previously).

Every shop I’ve been to has had full shelves and a good selection of food – as you would expect in Italy. Even hand sanitiser was available.

The manager of one convenience store told me he had seen no panic buying at any stage. This suggests to me that, even with the level of lockdown seen here, the food delivery system can keep functioning.

Spend? How?

While many Italians are unable to work, they will surely be looking for ways to save money.

Of course, one way to spend less is to be denied the opportunity to spend. Not only are bars, restaurants, theatres and every other conceivable form of entertainment closed here but even the few shops that are open – food shops and pharmacies – are refusing to sell “non-essentials”.

So if you’re at the supermarket buying food and see that it also sells, say, birthday cards, you’ll probably be unable to buy one.

On your bike

Normally during a crisis of any kind you find a few enterprising souls who discover a way to make money from it. But so far I haven’t seen any parts of the economy benefiting except perhaps food delivery.

In the evenings at least, the most common road users are the cyclists who bear on their backs big containers in the bright yellow and green of the Glovo app. They are everywhere.

It’s something to consider for anyone who needs some extra income during a lockdown, or perhaps some exercise after too much self-isolation.

Certainly the lockdown has caused a dramatic decline in the number of cars and lorries on the roads (although buses and trams are still running here, if often almost empty). This makes the roads much safer for cyclists, not just because there are fewer cars but because there is less pollution.

So maybe it’s the perfect time to start cycling anyway, even if you don’t join Deliveroo. It’ll even save you money: less petrol and maybe no need for a gym membership.

A dog's life

Otherwise, some Italians are offering themselves as dog walkers to elderly people who can’t leave home or don’t want to risk exposure to the virus – although, under a proposed new extension to the restrictions on movement, dog walkers may be forced to stay within 330 yards of home.

Whether the rule specifies the owner’s home or the dog walker’s, I’m not sure.