As the world was gripped by the coronavirus outbreak,Gabe,a clinical psychologist,says she and her husband,a software engineer,monitored the news about its spread when they arrived in Peru on March 8.
"At that stage there were only a handful of cases of COVID-19 in South America,and no cases in Peru,"she told theHerald from a hotel in the city of Cajamarca,which is about 850 kilometres from the capital,Lima,and 2000 kilometres from the tourist hub of Cusco.
"Last Sunday[March 15],the Peruvian government announced that on the 16th they would be entering a state of emergency,borders closed and a compulsory,nationwide 15-day quarantine period,"she said.
The couple were in Celendin,a town of 25,000,more than 1000 kilometres from Lima,when the news was announced.
"The next day the quarantine started and the hotel staff disappeared. We were alone in a hotel in a small town in rural Peru."
They have since been moved by a police escort to the hotel in Cajamarca,which remains staffed by one person.