They traveled to Brazil due to family health issues before the lockdown. Now they can't fly back to Australia

Gledson Garcez saw the last days of his father; Gabriela was following the recover of her dad from a stroke. And then the borders were closed.

Gledson Garcez em viagem na Austrália: soube que não poderia embarcar de volta a país pouco antes de entrar no avião. Source: Gledson Garvez (supplied)

Among the Brazilians on temporary visas who can’t fly back to Australia due the coronavirus restrictions, the situation of Gledson Garcez is one of the most intense.

Living in Sydney for six years on a student visa, finishing his master degree, Gledson had to go back to São Vicente, state of São Paulo, in early March due the escalation of the health problems of his father, who died a few days after his arrival. 

In the day of the flight back, the airline did not allow him to board the plane.

The Australian government had just shut down the border. Furthermore, he tested positive for COVID-19. Fortunately, only mild symptoms.

Source: Gledson Garcez (supplied)

“I left Australia to see my father who was very sick, doing dialysis for more than a year. He died one week later of renal insufficiency. I had schedule a flight back to march 25th but, as I saw that many European countries were closing their borders, I anticipated the flight to March 17th. And on this day I had a call from the hospital's emergency saying that my father was dead”. 

Obviously, Gledson was shocked with the situation. And he tried but no longer could fly back to his home in Australia. 

“I was very nervous, could not think properly, and it turns that I missed the flight. On that moment, on March 17th, there was indication that they would close the borders. They did it on March 19th. As I had missed my flight, I could rescheduled, but could not onboard on the plane. I was at Guarulhos airport and they told me Australia had announced the closing borders." 

Gledson Garcez left his master's degree behind, but could conclude remotely.

Now he intends to return to the life he left behind in Australia, not being sure if he is going to succeed.

“The leasing of the apartment where I live is in my name, I have some flatmates, we talked and they could keep up with rent. I can't complain. But I'm paying things like mobile phone bills and health insurance, things that I can't use from here”. 

During the quarantine, he has tested positive for coronavirus, so have five other members of his family, but he is glad they all developed immunity to the virus.

“We don´t know who brought it home, but I believe it could be my sister, a nurse in the health sector. Five members of my family got the virus. Nobody had serious symptoms, my mother had some heavier symptoms, but I didn't have anything serious”.  

Gledson Garcez now faces the distress of the present due an uncertain future.

"I am very concerned. It affects my mental health. I don´t know how my future is going to be. The bills are still coming”.

Health problems in the family also got Gabriela Rodriguez to go back to Brazil with her husband.

Her father had a stroke, and her mother-in-law went through a surgery.

They visit Brazil for the end-of-year holidays considering to come back in February, during the Carnival. And they could not come back to Australia so far. 

“My husband and I decided to flight back to Brazil in December and decided to stay until after Carnival, so we could follow up on the evolution of their parents. But my mother-in-law had a set-back on her recovering and we postponed the flight to March 23th. We couldn't imagine that the borders would be closed. And now, we are here, with no authorization to return. We canceled everything we could, but we still have some bills to pay. And we have now our bills to stay in Brazil”.

Gabriela Rodriguez and her husband Source: Supplied

Gabriela had plans to change her visa, but now she faces a limbo.

“We are on the visa 500 (VET students) and we were about to change to 485 (temporary graduated) by June. One of the requests to apply for the 485 is to be onshore, and the deadline is six months after the course is finished. Those matters worry me, because we certainly won´t be back in 2020”.

 

As pessoas na Austrália devem ficar pelo menos a um metro e meio de distância dos outros. Confira os limites no seu estado ou território para o número máximo de pessoas em encontros e reuniões.

Os testes para o coronavírus estão agora amplamente disponíveis em toda a Austrália. Se você  tem sintomas de resfriado ou de gripe, organize um teste ligando para o seu médico ou para a Linha Direta Nacional do Coronavírus no número 1800 020 080.

O App COVIDSafe do governo federal, para rastrear o coronavírus, está disponível para baixar na 'app store' do seu telefone.

A SBS traz as últimas informações sobre o COVID-19 para as diversas comunidades na Austrália. Notícias e informações estão disponíveis em 63 línguas no sbs.com.au/coronavirus

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