CUSCO, PERU – A Syracuse native and her family are currently stuck in Peru after officials there announced strict quarantine measures and closed the country’s borders last week in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mary (Cappotto) Boyle, her husband, Robert, and son Aidan, 15, all from Des Moines, Iowa, are spending most of their time in their room at the Marriott Hotel in Cusco, a small city in the South Central Andes Mountains.

Boyle, who said she has “significant health care issues” said she will be running out of prescription medications in less than a week. In addition, Cusco is at 11,000 feet above sea level – an altitude similar to base camp at Mt. Everest, she said. Boyle said she is suffering from altitude sickness and has had to get oxygen treatment at the hotel from paramedics several times so far.

Apart from going downstairs in the hotel to get meals, getting some fresh air in the hotel’s courtyard, or walking across the street to a small grocery store or nearby pharmacy, the Boyle family’s movements are heavily restricted.

Her family was supposed to leave Sunday to travel back home to Iowa, but now things are uncertain. The quarantine and border closing that began March 16 was only supposed to last 15 days. However, the country has since announced things will be “permanently” closed for an indefinite period of time.

“Once you step foot out of the hotel, you’re swarmed by police. There are automatic rifles all over the place,” said Boyle. “All modes of transportation have been shut down. Roads, boats. Only those with special IDs, such as hospital workers or hotel workers are allowed to be out on the streets.”

Her family was supposed to leave for home Sunday, but now things are uncertain.

Boyle, 55, grew up in Eastwood and graduated from Bishop Grimes High School and Syracuse University with a degree in finance. She currently works as an IT consultant for John Deere, the company that also employs her husband.

She and her family arrived in Peru on a vacation taken during her son’s spring break from school on March 11. They then traveled to a lodge deep in the Amazon jungle, where they were completely cut off from the internet, unable to use their cell phones and unaware of what was transpiring in Peru and back home in America.

“We left on the worst possible day. At that point, there were no cases in Peru or the surrounding countries. We had no worries about getting into Peru, only concerns about getting back into our country,” Boye said. “The only countries people were talking about then were China, Italy and Iran. Ten days ago it was not the same as it is today. Things have just deteriorated so rapidly.”

She said word came to the Amazon lodge where they were staying on March 16, at which time she and family were immediately transported by boat to the tiny, community of Puerto Maldonado, where there was no food or water at the airport. They were hoping to get a flight back home from Lima, the country’s capital. But all those airline seats were already taken before everything was shut down.

The Boyle family was transported by boat from the Amazon lodge they were staying at to Puerto Maldonado. It was after they learned that the country's borders were being shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The best they could manage was a flight to Cusco, getting the last few available seats on a plane thanks to “a gift” from the owner of the Amazon lodge where they were staying to one of the airport officials.

In a Facetime interview, Boyle said Peru still hasn’t been hit bad yet by the coronavirus. There have only been 60 reported cases in a population of 30 million people. However, the country’s leaders have decided to be pro-active and close the borders, as has Columbia, and Ecuador. Chile and other South American countries are expected to follow soon, she said.

She said at this point, there are some 5,000 U.S. citizens stuck in Peru and wanting to leave – 1,000 in Cusco alone. She said the U.S. State Department wasn’t helpful in the early going, failing to provide accurate daily updates.

“There has been a lot of false information going around (concerning air flights out of the country),” she said. “Our State Department really fell down. We felt abandoned the first three or four days.”

She said she and her family have been relying more on “Americans Stuck in Peru,” a Facebook group page “to piece information together” about the situation. Friends have also started a “Bring the Boyle Family Home from Peru” Facebook page, which Boyle said was created by a old classmate of hers at Bishop Grimes..

During the past 24 hours, Boyle said she and family members nd friends back home have been contacting and pleading with federal lawmakers for help in the situation. It appears to have worked. Obama’s tweet is evidence

As of today (Monday), she’s heard that the State Department is chartering flights with United and American Airlines. Word is there are two flights a day out of Lima, carrying 250 passengers each. She’s hopeful that her medical status will get her and family moved up on the priority list.

Meanwhile, thanks to the Internet, she and her husband have continued to get some work done for their company in the hotel room, and since spring break has ended her son has started doing some “distance learning” lessons on the computer.

“Luckily I’m a planner and packed some games and stuff to help kill the time,” she said. “”And we’re watching a lot on Netflix. Thank God for Netflix.”

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