A young woman in lockdown in Italy says she is finding ways to stay busy, including practicing her daily devotionals with her mom in Canada.

Tori Heppner has been living in the Tuscany region of Italy as an Au pair where she teaches English. She took the opportunity to travel from Winkler, Manitoba to go overseas but did not anticipate a nation-wide lockdown.

"My house mom said, 'okay. We need to talk about this whole 'coronavirus.' It is definitely getting around Italy and more so in the northern regions,' which is where I just was so obviously I was quite panicked."

Heppner notes that at this point it was too late to do much that would prevent the spread, and she wishes they would have reacted before positive cases of coronavirus made their way into the area she's living.

"I don't think we reacted quickly enough even after a lockdown was put into order," she says. "We still had elderly people - who are obviously the most susceptible to this virus - still at bars, still going out and about."

Taking into account that she still has roughly half a year left in Italy, Heppner decided to stay in the midst of the uncertainty and see how the situation develops in that time.

"I will do my devotions that I'm also doing with my mom at home. I'll typically read my bible for a while and spend time doing something productive."

During this time she has only been able to leave the house about once a week, and only to get groceries and return straight home.

"I haven't been out in a while. I think that my host mom was still saying that there are some people going around, but if the police catch you while you're out and you don't have a police report you get a fine. We need a police report to go to the grocery store, go to work, or to the hospital, and those are the only reasons you can leave your house."

Despite being confined to the family property almost 24-7, Heppner says the typical day is somewhere between 14 and 20 degrees and notes birds are still singing.

"I will do my devotions that I'm also doing with my mom at home. I'll typically read my bible for a while and spend time doing something productive. I have a list of jobs that I've set for myself so I don't just waste my whole day."

Meanwhile, other people across Italy have been finding ways to connect as they are also dealing with cabin fever. One interaction that has made its rounds on social media is people singing together from their balconies.

"At 6:00 p.m. every evening people will either play music, or go in their balcony or their yard and sing and dance, or if they play an instrument they'll play that. I think it was only supposed to be a one-night thing and it branched off into a thing that people really liked with a sense of community. My friend keeps sending me videos. She's a few towns over and there's one lady who plays a new piece every night, it's amazing," she says.

She says the government also encouraged each person to stand outside one night with their flashlights facing the sky, while a satellite above the country took a photo.

"It's just to let everyone know we're in this together, and this is how many people are around the world struggling together and figuring this out as a community. No one likes to feel alone, especially at a time like this where the whole country is going through some rough times."

Heppner doesn't know when restrictions on travel, social gatherings, and large events will be lifted, but believes it could be a while