A Newfoundlander who has been living in Italy on and off for the last three years says she has no plans to leave the country despite an outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Sheila Parrott is originally from Mount Pearl but has been living on and off in Italy for the last three years.

Parrott lives in Solerno, near Naples in southern Italy, well away from the outbreak which is in the north.

She says it is dominating news in Italy, and many are talking about the illness.

Parrott says she travelled to Turin in the north last week before news of the illness got out, and noticed some of the measures in place to prevent spread of the virus.

She noticed face masks for sale at a small market and schools, universities and businesses were closed to try to contain the illness.

Parrott says to-date, deaths from Covid-19 have all involved people who are elderly or otherwise have compromised health. Despite that, she has no plans to go anywhere.

She’s relatively healthy and from what she understands most people who contract the illness suffer flu-like symptoms and then recover. Many Italians are now being stopped at the border, so, she muses, she might not be able to leave even if she wanted to.