Niagarans want to come home from Peru
Trip with friend lasted four days before country shut down for quarantine
Two young Niagara residents who tried in vain to get out of Peru before the country shut down its borders are anxiously waiting for the Canadian government to send a plane.
Scott Robinson of Niagara-onthe-Lake and Chelsea Widdicombe of St. Catharines, both 23, have been stuck in a country that’s under a 15-day quarantine.
“Other countries have been successful in retrieving their citizens to get home, so we’re hoping the Canadian government can do the same,” said Robinson, speaking by Skype on Saturday from Cusco, Peru, in an Airbnb.
Time is critical for the pair. “The longer they wait, it’s just going to become more impossible and the situation’s just going to get worse,” Widdicombe said.
Robinson landed in the country on Feb. 29 with plans of a 10-month backpacking trip through South America, Europe and India or Southeast Asia.
He said the coronavirus was part of a very small conversation that was very far away at the time.
The plan was to have friends meet him along his journey and Widdicombe, who grew up in Niagara-on-the-Lake and has known him for 20 years, was the first to join him on March 12. She was only going to stay for 10 days and was supposed to be home Sunday.
They had about four days of normal tourism.
Peru declared a national state of emergency on March 15 and enacted 15 days of mandatory quarantine starting March 16.
Up on March 16 at 5 a.m. to catch a bus, the pair learned the country was shutting down its borders at midnight and flights would be cancelled. They called their families in Niagara to see if they could organize flights from afar while they made their way through the crowds. The pair travelled to the city of Cusco where there’s an airport.
There, they found police and military were only letting people inside who had tickets for that day. They managed to get in to talk to airport personnel, but could not get a flight.
With a mandatory quarantine set in, they got an Airbnb and are trying to figure out with their families how to get home.
“They’re very, very stressed and upset,” Widdicombe said. “They can’t really help us, right? We have so many people at home trying to help us, but it’s up to the government.”
If Peru’s quarantine ends after the 15 days, they plan to fly to Lima on April 1 to get to the international airport in that city, where they believe they have the best chance of getting a fight home.
But Robinson said the situation is developing so rapidly, they don’t know if the quarantine will be extended and if flights will be cancelled to a further date.
“The uncertainty is the scary part,” Robinson said. “Right now we have access to the essentials in terms of food and water and electricity and gas to cook and things, but there is no guarantee that will continue for the 15 days or that it will continue if the quarantine is extended.”
They’re also concerned that if they catch COVID-19, they won’t be able to fly home, even if the government sends a plane.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Saturday the federal government is working with Canadian airlines and foreign governments to provide access for flights for Canadian travellers who want to come home.
On Sunday during his daily press conference, he said Global Affairs is working directly with the governments in Peru and Spain seeking permission for access to airports so flights can take off when the air space is closed.