Atlanta native discusses life under lockdown in Italy

Georgia native Bret Thoman, his wife and three children live in the small town of  Loreto, on Italy's east coast. Thoman grew up in Peachtree City. He's lived in Italy for the past 6 years. Italy's Prime Minister placed the entire country on lockdown earlier this week, in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

"We went into full lockdown Tuesday morning, which means we are not allowed to go out of our house except for essential reasons. We can go the pharmacy, a doctor's visit, or walking the dog. It's only been a week and we don't know where it's going, but they're trying to keep people in their homes at all times."

Thoman says all non-essential workers, factories, companies and schools have been closed.

He is now monitoring the situation unfolding in the U.S. after President Donald Trump declared the outbreak a National Emergency here. His  parents and other family live in Fayette County.

 "To compare what happened here and what happened in Italy, there hasn't been a run on the grocery stores. Maybe it's not an Italian thing, but I'm seeing the long lines at Sams and the store shelves are empty.  Here I can go to the grocery store, the shelves are fully stocked."

Earlier this week, Thoman began hearing reports about neighboring villages and towns just a few miles away with reported cases, and  just recently learned that an individual in Loreto has reportedly tested positive for coronavirus, making it that city's first case. Thoman told FOX 5's Deidra Dukes, "These are cases that have tested positive, so we really don't know how many people have the virus.  These are the ones who got the nose swab and it could be possibly more."