Hundreds of Americans stranded in Peru amid coronavirus closures

[Judi Lynn]

Source: The Hill


BY LAURA KELLY - 03/17/20 07:09 PM EDT 217

Nearly 300 Americans currently in Peru are appealing for help in leaving the country after the government shut its borders earlier this week, highlighting the plight of U.S. citizens abroad as countries scramble to shut down travel in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The Peruvian government issued a state of emergency on Sunday night to close all land, sea and air borders. On Tuesday, it issued an updated travel advisory allowing flights to resume to repatriate Peruvians and return foreigners to their home countries abroad.

Many Americans have been caught up in the confusion, split between the port city of Lima where the international airport is and the mountain town of Cuzco, which has one airport. A number of Americans stuck in the country say they are having difficulty finding places to sleep.

Two Americans tried to organize stranded U.S. travelers by creating a group chat on the messaging service WhatsApp, which has expanded to nearly 300 participants and more people being added.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/international/488126-hundreds-of-americans-stranded-in-peru-amid-coronavirus-closures

[Brainfodder]

1. Can we call them dumb Americans or TOO SOON?

Asking for a friend....

[NBachers]

2. Let's just call them Americans, at this point.

[Brainfodder]

3. The friend said they will think about it?

They made the point that continuing to rescue idiocy begets more?

[KY_EnviroGuy]

4. In the big picture of things.....

I'm astounded every day - some three months into this crisis - at how many humans are still in foreign countries on vacation or even business travel, as if they don't have a care in the world. Then, we find that many of them have traveled there quite recently as if they never watch the news.

Then, they have the gall to bitch about how difficult it is to get back home.

In the long haul, it would have been cheaper and cost far fewer lives if the governments around the globe had in January offered anyone with paid for and confirmed non-refundable vacation plans $10,000 cash to stay home.

I fear we really are very new at evolution.

KY rant done.......

[CanonRay]

5. Go look at the marine traffic off Florida

There are still cruise ships sailing around; Serenade of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Nieuw Amsterdam and on and on.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-78.9/centery:25.7/zoom:8

[IronLionZion]

8. Mistakes were made

Any American abroad should probably just stay there if they can. It would only get worse if they try traveling home since the airports and customs are a mess. Plus it spreads easily on planes.

[Chakaconcarne]

6. Neither Lima or Cusco any fun to be stuck in..especially during a crisis.

[IronLionZion]

7. The US is a Trump-induced mess

they might be better off staying where they are if they can. I would not recommend traveling anywhere for a bit, let alone to the US which has long crowded lines at customs to help people spread the virus as much possible.

[SWBTATTReg]

9. This travlerer mess is worldwide, and not just confined to Americans. I'm sure every ...

nationality is impacted. We must all work together to get each and everyone of our citizens home, for all countries. And you're right, the handwriting was on the wall that this possibility was there, that borders would be closed, etc.

[mnhtnbb]

10. I have a friends who live on Bonaire--where I was earlier in March and left a week early--

who now have a son, daughter-in-law and their three kids stuck on Bonaire with them.

I booked--10 months ago--a 2 week vacation on Bonaire to celebrate my March birthday this year. I left the US on March 2nd. My son and his partner were due to join me on March 7th for a week. At 4 am on the 7th I got a text from them at the airport and they'd decided not to come.

Well. Bummer. I debated trying to leave a week early all day and decided against it. By Saturday evening--and then Sunday morning--I was getting texts from my pet sitter that my elderly dog was showing some signs of illness; signs that had previously led to her being very sick. I was watching the numbers of Coronavirus cases grow exponentially, hearing about all the problems in Italy, and decided maybe I had better cut the trip short. It took me 3 hours to get through to American Airlines and switch my ticket to leave a week early (they only have 3 flights/week to Bonaire from Miami). I left Monday, March 9th.

On Monday, March 16th, the day I was scheduled to originally fly home, Bonaire closed their airport to all flights from the US and Canada. The flight I was originally booked to leave on was allowed to land--because the Bonaire government made the announcement while the plane was in transit from Miami to Bonaire--and when it left to return to Miami, it was the last flight out to the US. I came that close to being stuck on Bonaire, which, all things considered wouldn't have been too awful if it weren't for my poor dog home here (who turned out to be ok) and would have taken a big bite out of my pocketbook. Still, there are worse places one could get stuck.

Anyway, my friend's family are now stuck there.