A DARLINGTON ex-pat caught in the epicentre of Northern Italy's coronavirus outbreak and subsequent lockdown has shared his experience with The Northern Echo. James Emmerson, who is from Cockerton and attended Branksome School and Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, moved to Italy eight-years-ago to teach English. Here is his personal account of living in isolation in Carpi.

Hearing the news that the coronavirus has now hit County Durham, my message from the epicentre of locked down Italy is simply – stay at home.

This is the message finally announced by the Italian media following Monday's decree to close the entire country.

It is a feeling welcomed by most, who have been living with the confusion over the severity of COVID-19 for the last month.

The Northern Echo: James Emmerson was born and raised in Darlington before moving to Italy where he is now in lockdownJames Emmerson was born and raised in Darlington before moving to Italy where he is now in lockdown

We were slow to react. After the first case in Carpi, the northern Italian town in which I live, the regional government decided to close the state schools immediately.

But, everyone else adopted the very British tradition of "keep calm and carry on", – Italians seem to think that's cool.

Yes, we washed our hands, we used disinfectant hand gel, face masks sold out, but the 'business as usual' approach didn't stop the infection rates rising into the hundreds in a matter of days.

As the virus intensified, we continued turning up for work, keeping our distance and avoiding handshakes, but still putting ourselves and others at risk.

Local businesses, understandably, were reluctant to make the first move to close up shop; therefore it took decisive actions from the government.

The Northern Echo: Shops in Carpi, Italy, bearing closure notices due to coronavirus containment measures Picture: James EmmersonShops in Carpi, Italy, bearing closure notices due to coronavirus containment measures Picture: James Emmerson

But now, many like myself are left asking, 'was it too late?'

Speaking to folks back home and witnessing posts on social media, I can see the same patterns of thought repeating from where we were in Italy a month ago.

A divide between alarmists and sceptics and little middle ground.

Those Brits who do see the danger, however, seem to have resorted to rather embarrassingly stockpiling toilet paper – a news that has provided a certain light comic relief during my effective house arrest in Italy.

Unsurprisingly, Italian panic buying consisted only of clearing out supermarket food shelves and perhaps stepping up the action on the bidet.

Jokes aside, now the first confirmed case has reached County Durham, where my roots are and many family and friends remain, I can't stress enough the severity of what we are facing as a global community.

Unilaterally, perhaps a little late in the day, Italian sceptics are now listening to experts, who confirm that this is not just a passing flu to be taken lightly, and it's not just the elderly and infirm at risk.

The medics are also stressing the importance of personal responsibility in terms of hygiene and furthermore leaving the house only if it is absolutely necessary.

I am 'smart working' - using technology to communicate - as are the majority of people in Italy. But, we had to be forced into it by state legislation.

I hope that the UK government will learn from our mistakes and not wait to act until arriving at almost 10,000 cases.