Kate Langbroek on life under coronavirus lockdown in Italy: 'The days are long'

Kate Langbroek has detailed the reality of life under 'lockdown' in Italy amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The radio host is currently living in Bologna, and says the COVID-19 situation in the country has "accelerated quite quickly", resulting in the current lockdown.

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With all non-essential stores and services closed around Italy - a move that came three weeks after the closure of schools - residents are being restricted to their homes.

"You're only allowed to go out to go shopping for groceries, and you can get stopped by the police, who'll check in your bag to see that's what you're doing outside," Langbroek told Today on Saturday.

She says the usually bustling streets of Bologna are now "eerily, ominously, strangely quiet".

"The shops you normally go to that are a 'friendly crush' are empty, to the point you wonder how they're staying in business," she continued.

Despite the enforced isolation, Italians have found creative ways of maintaining a sense of community, like the "flash mob" Langbroek witnessed on Friday night in Bologna.

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"At 6pm everyone gathered at their windows and sang or played an instrument. Our neighbour's daughter sang like a nightingale," she wrote on Instagram.

"It was a lovely way to be together in a city that is now not allowed to touch each other ... a long week in lockdown, but that's one week closer to the end of the virus."

That said, Langbroek admitted home-schooling her children as a result of school closures had been a challenge.

Initially expected to last a week, the closures have been extended to April 3, if not beyond.

Laughing, the media personality told Today she was a "terrible" teacher, joking she "believes in corporal punishment".

Ultimately, Langbroek said the lockdown measure has been "doable", even though "the days are long and home schooling is not what I would recommend".

"If that's what we have to do, it's very doable. As long as the food supply chains are kept going and there's essential services, there's no reason we can't do out civil duty which is basically staying indoors," she added.