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Western New York woman trying to get home from Peru

Jessica Gee went to Peru on vacation Friday. She tried to come back to the United States Sunday.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Western New York woman is frustrated because she's stuck in Peru and is having trouble getting back home.

Jessica Gee is from Western New York, and after going to Peru on vacation, she's having problems getting back to the United States.

"There's physical altercations. It was crazy," Jessica says of her trip to the airport this weekend.

2 On Your Side’s Nate Benson spoke with Jessica via Skype Monday. She says she went to Peru after deciding Thailand wasn't an option because of the coronavirus. Jessica says she was told by her travel company and airline that Peru was safe to travel to. She got there Friday, March 13 and tried to leave that Sunday before Peru's borders closed.

"It was chaotic. We were crying and trying to beg our way onto flights. The military was very aggressive, and there was no chance of everyone getting on a flight," Jessica said.

For now, Jessica's with her friends at a house they are renting.

"We're allowed to leave the house one hour a day only to go to the grocery store. On every single corner, there's military guards that stop you. Checkpoints, like, and they ask where are you going? How long you going to be gone? You know, they're very stern about only going to the grocery store and going right back to the house,” she said.

Tuesday, a senior State Department official pointed 2 On Your Side’s Kelly Dudzik to a message on Twitter from the U.S. embassy in Peru which says there are five-thousand U.S. citizens in Peru. Five hundred with underlying conditions or high-risk factors for COVID-19 have already been sent back to the U.S. The embassy is working on getting everyone else back.

Congressman Tom Reed told us Tuesday morning he wasn't aware of Jessica's situation until we brought it to his attention. She's from his district. He's closely following what's happening in Peru and is offering any assistance he can. He's hoping to connect with her. Senator Chuck Schumer's office has also reached out to her.

Jessica just wants to get back home.

"We've just been told it, you know, to sit back and wait for an email. When the email comes, we have to be ready to show up to the airport, but they're not telling us what times, when the flights are, how they're choosing, who's leaving, any of that," she says.

Jessica has Wi-Fi, so she's been able to keep in touch with friends and family in the U.S. We will keep you posted about her situation.

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