Hotspot fight to reunite

Since being stranded Kost has championed the cause of others in a similar situation. She knows of 63 Kiwis stuck in Brazil and 45 Brazilians with New Zealand residency or permission to enter the country.

Among them are a number of children, older people and pregnant women, Kost said, while one man is trying to get back to his pregnant partner.

She is also aware of 153 Brazilians in Queenstown who have lost their jobs and so must return home to South America, and has asked Brazilian authorities to lay on a flight that would benefit those on both sides of the Pacific.

‘‘But the Brazilian government doesn’t want to help us because we are in Brazil.’’

Brazil with almost 650,000 Covid-19 cases is second only to the United States in the number of people to have contracted the disease, and its 35,047 deaths as of Saturday trail only America and the United Kingdom.

Kost was able to see her father just three times before coronavirus forced her and Gabi into self-isolation to protect him. While she and her son wear a mask every day and only venture out to the supermarket, others are not so careful. ‘‘I see the people in the streets and it looks like nobody cares any more.’’

Kost is now yearning to get home to Wanaka, to be reunited with her husband and for Gabi to be back at pre-school with his friends.

New Zealand is where she wants to settle permanently.

‘‘I don’t fit in Brazil any more. I am here for three months and oh my god, I can’t live here. I want to live forever in New Zealand – it is the best place in the world. That is my dream but it is not easy. We are not Kiwis on paper but we love our life in New Zealand.’’

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) spokesperson said the focus has been on repatriating NZ citizens in challenging circumstances.