Coronavirus: Kiwi couple stranded in Italy after lockdown

A Kiwi couple forced to cut their dream European holiday short after Italy went into lock down are stuck in the country after being turned back from the airport.

More than 10,100 people have contracted coronavirus in Italy, more than 600 of whom have died. 

Deborah and Stu Hankins who were booked on a 10-day bus tour and seven day cruise around the Mediterranean, were due to depart Rome at 10pm on Thursday evening (10am Friday morning NZT). 

The Auckland couple lined up at the airport for hours, only to be told they could not board as they were not allowed to enter Australia for their planned flight home. Flights leaving Rome tomorrow bypassing Australia are fully booked, meanwhile Rome's airports are set to close from this weekend. 

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​The couple were booked on an Etihad flight via Abu Dhabi to Sydney and on to Auckland, having been holed up in their hotel room for the past four days. 

On Thursday (local time) they were contacted by the New Zealand Embassy and told "would not be allowed through" Australia, Deborah Hankins said. 

However the airline said it had "no knowledge of that instruction" and advised them to go to the airport. 

After queueing for two hours, the couple were told they were not allowed on the flight. 

They asked if they could travel to Abu Dhabi and make their way to Dubai to enable them to fly to Auckland directly, but this was denied. 

"They've completely banned us." 

The Hankinses had booked a hotel for the night ahead of a meeting with an Embassy representative and their travel agency, Australian-based TripADeal, on Friday morning. 

Hankins understood flights departing Rome bound for Doha direct to Auckland on Friday were fully booked, leaving them with few options before Rome Ciampiano airport closes on Saturday, and Rome Fiumicino closes its main terminal early next week. 

"Something has got to happen."

On Wednesday, the Australian Government announced a travel ban on Italy. 

New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed citizens who were not Australian residents or did not hold a category 444 visa would not be granted entry if they had been in Italy in the past 14 days, including those transiting through Australian airports. 

The couple arrived in Italy on March 6 and went on a walking tour around Rome, stopping at the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain.

The next day they found out the rest of their trip had been cancelled and have been cooped up in their hotel ever since, despite feeling well.

"We're not allowed to go into town. We're not allowed to travel in groups. You have to be one metre apart from anybody," Hankins earlier said.

"When you go to the [hotel] counter they've put tape on the ground so that you don't touch anything or get anywhere near them.

"If the lift opens and there's someone in the lift you can't get in because you can't be that close to somebody."

The pair had been planning the trip – their first to Italy – for more than a year.

"We've waited so long for this. It's crazy."

Although they have travel insurance, the company is refusing to pay out for any expenses related to the Covid-19 outbreak.

TripADeal chief executive Richard Johnston told Stuff it was "doing everything we could" to get those impacted by the lockdown home. 

It had a team focussed on getting tour participants on planes as soon as possible, and had given the couple some options, he said. 

New Zealanders returning from Italy must go into quarantine for two weeks.

But the Hankinses won't be able to isolate themselves at home because their son and his four children, the youngest of whom is three weeks old, are staying there.

Hankins said they'd have to stay in a hotel or motel because being near the baby would be too risky.

Hankins said what was meant to be the "trip of a lifetime" had turned into "the experience of a lifetime".

"We can laugh about it sometimes. But sometimes it gets hard to deal with."