Sara Platto's mother in Italy once scolded her for being "crazy" for staying in Wuhan when Covid-19 broke out, now she is a reassuring family at home.

Platto, who lives with his 12-year-old son in Wuhan, China, has rejected the Italian government's evacuation request four times because he does not want to leave his two cats. She decided that they were still safe enough to stay in China.

"This is not Ebola," said Platto, who works at Jiangnan University. She spent 50 days in the house, taking turns with her son to use the computer to study online and work remotely.

Italians in China have faced a medical crisis and strict blockade measures prevented them from going out for weeks. Now, they witness similar scenes taking place in their home countries.

Italy is the second largest epidemic region after China with over 21,000 cases, more than 1,400 deaths and nearly 2,000 recover. They have imposed a nationwide blockade, an unprecedented measure in Western Europe. All stores, except pharmacies and grocery stores, are closed. Residents must stay at home except when going to work, buying supplies or getting medical care.

"They are very confused, because they have never seen such a regulation," Platto said of residents of his home town of Brescia in northern Lombardy, where most of the cases of nCoV were reported in Italy. "I advise people not to panic, because panic is worse than viruses."

Platto's Chinese neighbors in Wuhan were moved when she decided to stay in the city, where the blockade was held on January 23. They gave her a large bag of spaghetti with the words "Sara, be strong!".

But as the epidemic is cooling off in China and booming in other countries, Chinese authorities have stepped up surveillance of foreigners for fear of "foreign" cases.

Beijing on 11/3 requires all international visitors to the city to quarantine for 14 days. In a central district of Beijing, volunteers and police repeatedly asked Italians to report information, even to their homes unexpectedly, even to those who have not recently left China.

When Francesco Abbonizio, a football coach in Beijing, traveled from China to Italy last month, he was quarantined for two weeks. Now he is quarantined again after returning to China on March 11.

"When I returned to Italy, a relative was so afraid of the virus that he refused to see me," he said. "Now they are 'locked up' in their homes."

Marco, who works in theater industry in Beijing, has not left China since the outbreak. He plans to return to Italy in March - the first trip back home in more than two years. However, he was forced to cancel the plan.

Marco did not want to confuse the Tuscan residents when he returned with his Chinese wife. "Not everyone thinks rationally," Marco said. He did not want his family to suffer any negative reaction from the residents back home.

Before Italy confirmed the first cases of nCoV, the Chinese community in the country said it faced racist behavior.

Chinese tourists spit on Venice, a family in Torino allegedly carrying the germs, mothers in Milan on social media calling for the separation of Italian and Chinese children at school.

"I am more worried about my family and about the poor community awareness in my country recently," Marco said.