Italy on lockdown: Georgia woman aboard one of last flights out

ATLANTA - Carmen Luisa Coya-van Duijn boarded one of the last flights out of Rome Tuesday morning after Italy's Prime Minister placed the country on lockdown.

 "I was blessed that my husband works for the airlines and he woke me up at 3 a.m. Rome time and said, 'You are not going to be able to wait. You have to leave now, otherwise, you are not going to be able to get out.'" Coya-van Duijn told FOX 5's Deidra Dukes. 

The long-time Atlanta resident is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at The Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

With physical classes suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, Coya-van Duijn is returning to the states to be with her family, while continuing her studies online. 

"The airport was empty. I mean it was empty and they did take our temperature while we were leaving and they scanned us, and they had us filling out an affidavit, you know saying where we were and what we did.  I was in Rome the whole time and I was going to my house and to school and back."

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Making the likelihood of her exposure minimal, she says, compared to somebody that might have been traveling to Florence or Milan, two of the stricken areas. 

While officials work to contain the virus,  Coya-van Duijn worries about the long-term impact on Rome's economy and its working class. 

"The people I use for services, to get my nails done eat at a restaurant, they are devastated, you can see the look of fear in their eyes like what's going to happen to us financially, so it's very concerning."

This is why in this time of uncertainty Coya-van Duijn prays for a worldwide response to the deadly epidemic. 

"It's now time for us to band together as one global community, as one human race and pray for each other and help each other out.  That's really where we are at right now."