Santa Barbara couple stuck in Perú due to sudden border closures

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Michelle Cook and Mark Kraus traveled to Perú to celebrate her birthday, but the vacation hasn't gone as planned.

The Santa Barbara couple are stranded with many other Americans due to the sudden border closures to prevent the spread of the new Coronvirus.

"We cannot leave the hotel, there are police with rifles surrounding our hotel," said Cook.

The realtor and online brokerage business owner wants friends to know they are safe.

"We are on day four of our vacation, one day away from hiking Machu Picchu so we are very disappointed, we received a phone call in the middle of the night from our tour company, they were frantic."

They were told they need to get out of the country right away, but that has not been easy.

They have been trying to contact the U.S. State Department and the United States Embassy for help.

They reached out to the media in hope of calling attention the plight of the Americans they have met. One of them is pregnant, another needs dental care and others need refills of medication.

"Our message right now is to help the people that really need to get home, we have offered to step back and take the last plane out if we get one, we have offered to take a longer quarantine, if we need to, just because our position in life allows us to work remotely, and we are healthy."

Unless the United States can send a plane to fly them home they will be under lock down for at least two more weeks while the coronavirus continues to impact people around the globe.

On Thursday morning Cook felt hopeful. She heard President Trump on television saying he is speaking with the U.S. State Department to help Americans return home.