abcs cheri preston reporting for abc news radios perspective podcast on italys complete lockdown what would it be like if a whole country shut down thats the reality now for many people residing in italy where coronavirus cases have spiked leading to a lockdown across the entire nation abcs megan williams has been on lockdown with her husband and two children in their apartment and explains to preston what its like living in rome during this time its surreal theres just no way to really describe how strange it is to go through the city which is normally loud boisterous full of people gathering occupying the city in the chaotic joyful way that romans occupy their city listen to the full interview with cheri preston and the rest of this past weeks highlights here what usually is full of crowds in the piazzas and squares is now a ghost town to walk past all of these beautiful monuments that you can now get really close to but to see so few people in them is just a very eerie feeling williams said the basic message currently is not to go out while essential places like food pharmacy and doctors offices remain open its advised to stay inside more us coronavirus death toll reaches 61 as cities states close bars and other venues supermarkets mirror a nightclub scene with a bouncer at the door only allowing one guest in at a time and keeping three to four feet in between people williams explains that italians are putting all of their cultural impulses aside and staying in and keeping that minimum distance hospitals in italy as well as the elderly there are most at risk the average age of death is 81 with one in five people living in italy being over the age of 65 intensive care units are overwhelmed with the number of patients coming in causing workers to cancel plans or vacations and preparing to be all hands on deck a woman holds a light during a flash mob italia patria nostra italy our country at the garbatella district in rome on march 15 2020 italy reacts with the solidarit show more andreas solaroafp via getty images when the announcement of covid19s severity was first released many still went about their day normally schools have been closed while parks have been packed people gathering for picnics and kids playing soccer has been the sight for many walking around the city but as the number of cases skyrocket and decrees are passed residents are coming together and taking the situation very seriously i saw a police officer hand out a fine to people who dont respect the rules and that was a group of kids playing soccer williams noted as she ventured around the empty city there has been a change people are following the rules now but it took a few days certainly outside of that initial red zone in northern italy which was locked