Shannon Battersby and Paul Hoy, Canadians stranded in South Africa by travel bans designed to limit the spread of COVID-19, were told by the Canadian government that a flight home could cost $5000.
Battersby, from Langham, Sask., went to South Africa to visit her partner’s family. Hoy, from Bowmanville, Ont, went for a modelling contract.
Both scrambled to rebook their flights when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadians to return home when the novel coronavirus pandemic worsened, but couldn’t find a way out. “Once we heard Trudeau was telling Canadians to come home, then started the nightmare,” Battersby said, via a Skype call from Standerton, South Africa.