'It Has Been A Strange Situation': Woman From Pittsburgh In Italy As Coronavirus Sparks Lockdown
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The country of Italy is essentially on lockdown due to coronavirus. A woman who grew up in Pittsburgh was supposed to be in Italy until next month, but coronavirus has changed those plans.
Her name is Kate Bringardner, and right now she is in a small town just outside of Florence, Italy.
The Point Park University graduate has been in the country since early January, but the coronavirus is forcing her back to the states early.
"So I'm in Italy and it has been a strange situation," she said on a Facebook live.
Italy has been under a total lockdown as the coronavirus spreads in the country. The prime minister has announced he is extending those restrictions to the north which is where Bringardner is presently staying.
Her father Rev. Dwight Moody spoke with KDKA earlier Tuesday via Facetime from his home in Saint Simons Island, Georgia.
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"She's over there on an advanced theater intensive where they are training and been traveling, scheduled to tour the country performing," he said.
According to Bringardner, she and her group performed up until a few days ago.
"We were able to do what we think was the last school show in Italy on Monday and we got special permission from the mayor earlier this week to do a show in the evening and we had to place the chairs one meter apart," she says. "We had 45 people. They loved the show."
Bringardner, who grew up in Pittsburgh, now lives in Louisville, Kentucky and when not traveling, runs her own consulting business for performers.
She was scheduled to remain in Italy until next month, but the coronavirus is affecting her plans.
"Currently I am scheduled to fly home back to Louisville via Nashville from Rome on Sunday," she said.
As far as her father knows, Bringardner was never quarantined and does not show signs of being ill.
