A Luxembourgish student who decided to leave northern Italy on Sunday evening reported her findings to our colleagues at RTL 5Minutes, speaking of deserted roads, cancelled trains, and face masks everywhere.

Northern Italy has experienced its first serious outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus, as eleven cities woke up on Sunday to the news of quarantine. People have been banned from entering or leaving the cities after the number of coronavirus cases skyrocketed in Italy, leaving three dead.

The Italian government immediately took a number of measure such as closing schools and businesses, cancelling sport events such as Serie A football matches, and cancelling cultural events like the Venice Carnival.

At midday on Sunday, the city of Parma had not yet been quarantined. A Luxembourgish student in Parma until Sunday told our colleagues that she decided to return to Luxembourg when the university announced it had suspended classes. She contacted the Luxembourgish Embassy in Rome to enquire about repatriation, but her request was refused. The student then decided to return to Luxembourg by her own means.

RTL 5Minutes contacted a representative of the embassy, who revealed that the Ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs have not yet advised embassies to repatriate Luxembourgish citizens. Thus, they could not do much to assist.

'A lucky escape'

The student told our colleagues that she decided to take the train to Milan, but was unsure just how far she would get as a number of train lines had been cancelled.

Parma station almost entirely deserted. / © Mobile Reporter
The first trains to Parma showing as cancelled. / © Mobile Reporter
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"The roads were deserted and everybody was wearing masks in the stations. Once we arrived in Milan, we saw the next trains to Parma were all being cancelled. We had a lucky escape," she told our colleagues, confirming local media information.

Parma itself has not yet been quarantined, but as the embassy representative explained, 'once a quarantine is declared, nobody will be permitted to leave the area'.

The student eventually arrived back in Luxembourg on Sunday night. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed it is closely following the situation in Italy.

No increased entry screening... yet

The Ministry of Health told RTL this Monday that there were "no specific provisions to be made" with regard to Luxembourg nationals returning from Italy at this stage.

The directorate of the ministry emphasised that the "level of the alert remains unchanged." They nevertheless conceded that the situation is "likely to change" in the near future. Officials added that Luxembourg was closely monitoring the development of the situation. Potential preventive measures may be taken in accordance with the analysis carried out by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). An audio conference with Italian officials will take place on Monday afternoon.

It is possible that Luxembourg's official stance will change after the conference, the Ministry of Health specified.

Luxembourg has not yet recorded a case of coronavirus.