American couple stuck in India with adopted daughter as pandemic upends travel
A couple from Auburn, Georgia that traveled to India to pick up their newly adopted daughter now have no clue when they are returning home. They are among the more than 50,000 Americans the State Department estimates are stranded in other countries due to the coronavirus pandemic forcing borders to close and flights to be called off.
Michael and Whitney Saville waited two years to be able to go to India and adopt Grace, who turns three in June. Just 22 days later, the coronavirus paralyzed the globe and sent India into a three-week lockdown. By the time they completed the adoption process, they found themselves stuck in a Delhi hotel.
"We needed to get her and bring her home before any of this got out of control. But we didn't anticipate it escalating as quickly as it did," Whitney Saville told CBS News' Kris Van Cleave.
The Savilles also have three young boys waiting for them to return to Georgia. To pass the time while they wait, Grace has been busy at work memorizing their names.
"My oldest just started playing baseball this year," Michael Saville said. "I would give anything to throw the baseball with him right now."
So far, at least 9,000 Americans have come home from 28 countries thanks to U.S. chartered commercial flights and other government-sent planes. Dozens of so-called repatriation flights are scheduled for the coming days that aim to bring back another 9,000 Americans from around the world. United Airlines tells CBS News it flew 21 such flights this week to cities in South and Central American bringing home around 2500 Americans. American Airlines flew about 10 flights. Delta flew five charters to Manila in the Philippines this week to bring 1400 missionaries home to Salt Lake City, Utah. Immigration and Customs Enforcement used its airplanes to bring home about 300 Americans stuck in Honduras and El Salvador this week.
About 4,000 Americans are still stuck in Peru, where medical school student Alex Curry waits to be brought back into the U.S. Curry's heart condition poses an added risk, and she was starting to run low on medication.
She called the situation "scary," because she faced a "higher risk for certain things."
Curry had been in Peru for a month on a medical school rotation. She and fellow medical student Aubtin Saedi are set to begin a residency at California hospitals if and when they can return.
"We need to get back home in order to work and to help during this whole situation," she said. "So this is really nerve-racking for us."
