Two people from New Brunswick who are stuck in Peru are trying to get home amid COVID-19 concerns, but say they’re not sure how long they`ll be stranded.
Aylish Marchand, from Riverview, says they were monitoring the situation prior to leaving March 7. But that was before many global travel advisories and restrictions came into effect.
“We are unsure of when we are going to get out of here,” she says. “We were doing a lot of research on Peru to make sure there were no cases, and there wasn’t, even the day that we left.”
To make matters worse for Marchand and Brian Leger, the Peruvian Government has established a state of national emergency and mandatory quarantine for 15 days,” according to an Embassy of Canada letter to Canadians in Peru.
The letter goes on to say borders have been closed.
“The international and domestic transport of passengers is suspended, by air, land, river and sea.”
“Everyone’s saying well you can just book a flight, Canada’s still open. But it’s not like that here, it’s not that easy for us to just leave,” Marchand says.
The couple became engaged a week ago, but needless to say, it’s been a rocky road so far due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re in a foreign country so we can’t speak the language, we don’t know how to explain to them things,” she says to her mom, Brenda, in a video chat. “It’s scary… It’s giving me anxiety.”
Brenda Marchand, from her Riverview home, tells Global News it’s a scary feeling not being able to help her daughter and new fiancé.
“As we heard things more and the possibility they were going to shut down the airports and then the country, we started to panic.”
In a statement to Global News, Global Affairs Canada says it is “doing everything to provide assistance under these unprecedented circumstances.”
“We stand ready to provide consular services to Canadians to the extent possible, while respecting the decisions of local health authorities as they manage this public health emergency,” Angela Savard, a spokesperson says. “Some limitations may be in effect in some areas of the world.”
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