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A Texas doctor is stranded in South America with his two teenage daughters due to a coronavirus border shutdown, according to a report.
Dr. Max Peralta, of El Paso, left his family medicine practice behind on Sunday as he traveled to Peru to visit his birthplace with his 16- and 17-year-old daughters. The trio was supposed to fly back Friday, but the trip has been canceled following a shutdown of the country’s borders, the El Paso Times reports.
“As it stands right now, we’re in limbo,” Peralta told the newspaper Wednesday from the country’s capital. “I was born in Lima. I was here visiting for spring break.”
The president of Peru, Martin Vizcarra, announced the country would be shutting down its borders in an effort to slow the coronavirus outbreak on Sunday — the same day Peralta arrived there.
The move has left thousands of travelers instantly stranded, according to Peru’s La Republica newspaper.
“Right now the government has shut down everything like restaurants,” Peralta told the El Paso Times. “One person per family is allowed to go to the market, and the markets are still relatively well-stocked. How long that lasts, no one knows.”
It’s unclear whether US State Department officials will evacuate stranded citizens abroad like Peralta on humanitarian flights, the newspaper reports.
“We have no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas,” a State Department spokesperson wrote in an email.
“We are continuously assessing travel conditions in all areas affected by COVID-19, and will continue to update our travel advisories and safety information for US travelers as situations evolve.”
For now, Peralta said he’s not overreacting, despite a national 8 p.m. curfew in Peru announced Wednesday by Vizcarra, according to the Lima-based La Republica.
“I think El Paso needs me more,” he said. “I have a pretty large practice. I’ve been taking care of prescriptions and letters for vulnerable individuals. I’m still helping my patients from 3,000 miles away in South America.”
As of Thursday, 155 Peruvians have been diagnosed with coronavirus, but no deaths have been reported, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than two-thirds of the patients are in Lima, according to La Republica.
