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US tourists stranded abroad don’t know when they’ll return amid coronavirus spread

Tourists from the United States wait outside the closed Jorge Chavez International Airport for a member of the U.S. Embassy to escort them to a flight that will fly them back to the U.S., in Callao Peru, Friday, March 20, 2020, on the fifth day of a state of emergency decreed by the government to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
Tourists from the United States wait outside the closed Jorge Chavez International Airport for a member of the U.S. Embassy to escort them to a flight that will fly them back to the U.S., in Callao Peru, Friday, March 20, 2020, on the fifth day of a state of emergency decreed by the government to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) Tourists from the United States wait outside the closed Jorge Chavez International Airport for a member of the U.S. Embassy to escort them to a flight that will fly them back to the U.S., in Callao Peru, Friday, March 20, 2020, on the fifth day of a state of emergency decreed by the government to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

By MITCH WEISS and HOLBROOK MOHR / Associated Press 6 min read

Linda Scruggs and Mike Rustici trained for months to hike the winding trails leading to Machu Picchu’s complex of Inca ruins. So they were thrilled when their flight landed earlier this month in the Peruvian capital.

They did part of their trek but wound up trapped in a Lima hotel room for days, not knowing how or when they would get back to the U.S. – like thousands of tourists and people living abroad as nations closed borders to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Scruggs texted Saturday that they were finally boarding a chartered flight from Lima back to the U.S. and their plight illustrates the desperation people stuck abroad experienced as the COVID-19 pandemic spread.

Peru confirmed its first case of the virus on March 6. By the time Scruggs and Rustici arrived a week later, it was spreading. Days after the hikers landed, Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra declared an emergency, ordering the country’s borders closed and for Peruvians to stay home.

Scruggs and Rustici, both in their 40s and from Nashville, Tennessee, told The Associated Press in telephone interviews they were given about 24 hours notice to leave Peru, but couldn’t find a flight.