New Jersey native stuck in hostel in Peru amid COVID-19 pandemic

PHILADELPHIA - UPDATE: Kacie and her friends are scheduled to depart Cusco, Peru, on Friday morning, according to Mike Brandeburg. They’ll be flying to Miami and from there, she will make her way to Orlando. 

ORIGINAL STORY:

A New Jersey native has been stuck in a hostel in Peru nearly two weeks after she was supposed to return home to the United States. 

"Right now there are still 90 of us here. Their staff is 12 people. We're hearing about movement they're making, and negotiations and things like that, but we haven't seen anything from the embassy personally," Kacie Brandenburg , 24, told FOX 29. "We're stuck here with eight people that are positive." 

According to Brandenburg, outside the hostel there are armed guards making sure the no one leaves the building and risks infecting others.

"People keep saying be patient and you'll be fine and I think they're not really understaning that this hostel specifically has been shut down," she said. "I think we can all agree the longer we are here, the scarier it is for us."

Brandenburg, a native of Haddonfield, New Jersey, flew to Peru on March 12 with four friends with the goal to see Machu Picchu but that didn't happen.

The Disney employee is just happy to have some allergy medication delivered to her. She hasn’t stepped foot off the foreign property in two weeks. While her parents in South Jersey fight to bring her home

"We receive encouraging news one minute and then we get a gut punch the next minute," Mike Brandeburg said.

Mike Brandenburg says his family could not have predicted this situation.

"COVID-19 wasnt the thing that it is now. No one on lockdown, no countries closing borders," he said. "It tears my heart out as a partent because I'm powerless."

The United States Embassy in Peru says on Wednesday 400 more Americans returned home. Their mission is to bring every American home. Athough the U.S. government also admitting that as the situation develops its ability to provide assistance may become more limited.

FULL COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS

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