Minnesota woman back home after being stuck in Peru due to COVID-19 lockdown

A Minnesota woman is back in the Twin Cities after being stuck in Peru for weeks. The country is under a COVID-19 lockdown, which made it difficult for travelers to find flights.

The U.S. Department of State says about 50,000 Americans worldwide can't get back into the U.S. because of flight cancellations and border closures. Joy McBrien was one of those people. 

"Last time we chatted, I was in Chimbote, Peru, one of the largest, poorest cities in the world about eight hours north of Lima on the coast," said McBrien. "Since that time, I've had to fight quite hard to get back to the states."

Minnesotan stuck in Peru trying to get home, robbed of everything 

McBrien was supposed to catch one of the last flights out of Peru weeks ago, the same day Peru closed its borders because of the pandemic. But the St. Paul woman says she was violently robbed before she could even get on that flight, and once the borders closed, there weren't many flights out of the country. 

"The issue was you couldn't just buy a ticket and get on this flight. You had to get on the embassy's list and you had to be notified that this was your specific day," said McBrien.

Without a clear route home, McBrien says she organized a bus to get her and dozens of other Americans, which transported them to a U.S. repatriation flight.

"I ultimately took a taxi ride to the embassy, which is about an 8-hour taxi ride, then got an emergency passport, stayed the night in Lima, and then, the next day, got on the repatriation flight home which was the happiest I've ever been to see an airplane," said McBrien.

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That repatriation flight took her and more than a hundred other Americans to Washington D.C.

"I'm, of course, very grateful to be back, especially given the uncertainty of how long borders will be closed," said McBrien.