AC Milan's on-loan goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has painted a scary picture about what life is like in Italy amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Milan is in total lockdown at the moment as authorities desperately attempt to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has killed over 1,800 people in the country so far.
Milan is situated in the worst affected region of the worst-hit country in Europe, and Begovic has compared the current lockdown to a scene from a movie.
'It's a total lockdown,' the 32-year-old, who is still on Bournemouth's books, told the Mirror.
'The streets are deserted. The only thing open are supermarkets. You can get a little bit of food and then it's straight back to your home. It's crazy.
'It's a big city, I live in the city and you think it's a movie. People have said it's like a movie scene and it really is. I've never seen anything like it before. I'm not sure people understand how bad it is here.
'It's hit Italy very hard. What the reason is for that I don't know - maybe the medicine side of things.
'But it's hit the country hard. You feel for the country, with a lot of deaths and people being infected. It's devastating and heartbreaking for the people.
'Now you see other clubs, fellow players getting it and it feels like a nightmare and you can only hope that everything goes back to normal as soon as possible.'
So far, seven players in Serie A have tested positive for coronavirus as the illness continues to spread throughout Italy.
Five Sampdoria players, as well as a player apiece from Juventus and Fiorentina, have succumbed to the virus and must now spend time in quarantine.
Juve's Daniele Rugani was the first Serie A player to test positive and since then Omar Colley, Albin Ekdal, Antonio La Gumina, Manolo Gabbiadini, Morten Thorsby and Dusan Vlahovic have also been affected.
The severity of the outbreak in Italy saw football suspended on March 11 by the Italian government and it appears unlikely that the game will resume in the foreseeable future.
Games had been played behind closed doors but pressure from players and the huge number of cases across the country forced the government to intervene.
And Begovic has described the current predicament as a 'waiting game', going on to claim that he does not know when he and the rest of his Milan team-mates will return to their football duties.
