Lufkin woman self-quarantined after Italian study trip cut short by coronavirus outbreak

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - Vice President Mike Pence says that within the next 12 hours all passengers coming in on direct flights from Italy and South Korea will be screened.

© Provided by Tyler-Longview KTRE Vice President Mike Pence says that within the next 12 hours all passengers coming in on direct flights from Italy and South Korea will be screened.

This after, a Lufkin native taking classes abroad this semester made it back to the U.S. after a coronavirus outbreak in the Lombardy region of northern Italy.

Caroline Deaton, who shows no symptoms, must self-quarantine for 14 days. She has gone to a home at the beach in South Texas as she does so.

She was only able to have two weeks of classes in Milan, Italy before having to return home.

Two weekends ago, Deaton said she was in Florence taking a trip with her friends when they got word cases of the novel coronavirus had expanded rapidly.

“We were there for a day and then that night, I think it was, was whenever we got all of this information about how it went from 20 cases to 100 cases in literally just hours,” Deaton said.

She took a train back to Milan to pack a bag and had plans to get out of the area for a bit.

“And stayed in London for about a week,” she said. “And then whenever we heard that school got canceled again, I came home and then my program got canceled. Yeah. It’s all just been crazy.”

There were no cases reported in Milan, however, people in the surrounding cities were being diagnosed.

“So I knew that in a matter of time it was going to be Milan having more outbreaks,” she said.

While Deaton said she had no issues traveling home, as of Saturday, American Airlines announced they are suspending flights to and from Milan, and New York (JFK) and Miami (MIA). Flights are scheduled to resume on April 25th.

“I had no issues. Nobody questioned me at all,” Deaton said. “Kind of weird. I was expecting to have gotten my temperature taken or something.”

Deaton’s university, Texas A&M required her to self-quarantine for two weeks in order to return to classes. She will be doing distance learning for the time being.

“Watching lectures online and I’ll be taking my exams here,” Deaton said.

And as for the city known as the economic heart of Italy, “The city right now is completely apocalyptic. There’s like nothing there,” Deaton said. “Nobody is leaving their house. The grocery stores are completely empty. It’s crazy. It’s nothing like I’ve ever seen.”

After these two weeks of self-quarantine, Deaton said she plans on seeing a doctor.

She will finish her semester online and be able to receive credit.

As far as reimbursement for the trip and housing, Deaton said they are still figuring all of that out.

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