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These football players finally have touched down back in the United States.
A team of American female football players on Friday were airlifted by the U.S. military out of Honduras, where they were stranded after borders were closed to limit the spread of the coronavirus, CNN reported.
The 55-member American Football Events squad had been quarantined at their hotel in Tegucigalpa since last Sunday due to the spreading COVID-19 pandemic. The team flew to Honduras on March 11 to participate in the Americas Women’s Bowl, a football tournament also involving teams from Mexico and Costa Rica that also included the teams performing charity work with local homeless shelters.
The competition was canceled last weekend, but Honduras officials closed its country’s borders on March 15 for a minimum of seven days, grounding all international flights.
The American team was transported on two military flights permitted to leave Honduras on Friday, with about half the team leaving Soto Cano Air Base on a US Air Force C-17 to the U.S., according to a statement from US Southern Command given to CNN.
Another 89 American citizens, including the remainder of the football team, arrived at Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina aboard a US Air Force C-130.
“The @usairforce @US_TRANSCOM and @SOUTHCOM conducted an air mission earlier today taking a group of U.S. women’s football players from Honduras to Charleston,” the Department of Defense tweeted on its official account. “We continue to assist @StateDept in repatriating US citizens.”
According to CNN, “a large number” of Americans are “still struggling to get back to the US” from Honduras. As of Saturday, Honduras had reported 24 cases and zero deaths from COVID-19.
