(LEX 18) — Bell County native and former star guard for the University of Kentucky women's basketball team, Maci Morris, is part of the nationwide lockdown in Italy, where she's been playing basketball since August.
More than 10,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed and more than 600 people have been killed by the virus in Italy, according to NBC News.
Morris is in Empoli, about a half hour from Florence, she said.
"They’ve told people not to come out of their house unless they absolutely need to," Morris said in an interview via Skype.
People can leave home to grocery shop or go to work, she said, but the streets are nearly empty.
"There’s not as many people walking around but now since it’s been on lockdown," she said, "people are walking around with more masks or a scarf on their face."
Her basketball games began to be canceled about three weeks ago, she said, and now play has completely stopped.
She's hopeful to be able to travel home later this week.
"I wasn’t really scared to get the coronavirus, I was more scared not being to leave," Morris said.
She said she's been in contact with the U.S. embassy in Italy and was told she can travel home if she's able to find a flight. She said she hadn't yet heard if she'd have to quarantine herself when she arrives home.
