According to the U.S. Department of State, there are still close to 17,000 Americans stranded abroad because of the pandemic looking for help getting home.
Tina Savoy is one of the luckier ones.
“It hasn't been too, too bad and I’m happy. I’m here with the family and I’m able to help out with my parents,” Savoy said.
She’s been stuck in Sweden for almost two months now. She left South Florida on March 3 for a family member’s funeral.
“I was supposed to leave the 18th of March. Then they changed it to April 21st. Then May 1st. Now it’s June 2nd,“ Savoy said.
When the pandemic hit, many countries closed their borders and flights stopped going, leaving Savoy with no way home to Pembroke Pines.
“The only stress mostly has been work," she said. "Then, since they ended up closing, there wasn’t much that I could do anyway.”
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Filing for unemployment has been a nightmare for people in the U.S., so you can only imagine what it was like for Savoy trying from overseas.
“It was impossible. Finally what I did, I filled out the application. Printed it out like old time and I had to drive 45 minutes to a FedEx office and mail it to the States. And it cost me about $100 to mail the paperwork," she said.
And while she’s a little anxious about flying during the pandemic, she is eager to get home to her husband and their youngest son Jonathan.
“We definitely miss each other that’s why I’m happy we can stay connected through the phone,” Jonathan said. “I’m happy that she’s safe over there. That’s my main concern.”
With thousands of Americans still stuck abroad desperate for help getting home, Savoy says she’s one of the luckier ones and plans to wait until her flight is scheduled to leave on June 2.
“Of course I’m stranded, because yes, I haven’t been able to get home, but I’m stranded in the best place I could be stranded," she said.
According to the Department of State, there have been more than 74,000 Americans taken home on about 784 repatriation flights from more than 126 countries and territories.
