A photo taken of Kathryn Hughes (middle) with her two oldest children before she left Canada last October. (Submitted photo/ Kathryn Hughes)

By Nigel Maxwell

Community Stories

Sask. woman living down under during COVID-19 crisis

Mar 25, 2020 | 1:56 PM

A retired teacher from the Prince Albert area is hundreds of miles from home and her children during the COVID-19 crisis.

Kathryn Hughes has dual Canadian – Australian citizenship, and after spending five months down under, was scheduled to return to Canada later this month. Those plans changed when she was asked by family to help look after her 90-year-old aunt. Hughes told paNOW she has no idea how long she will remain in Hobart.

“The family asked me whether I would consider an extra three months, and I said absolutely, but we don’t know do we,” she said.

Hughes has three children in Canada, including a daughter and granddaughter in Prince Albert. She acknowledged it is very tough being so far away from them, but added she appreciates the advent of technology.

“I mean social media gets slammed quite a lot because people are over using it and are becoming too dependant on their cell phones, but now I think it’s a bit of a life line especially for someone like me because I can video call my kids,” she said.

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Hughes explained there are many similarities between the situation in Australia and the one happening in Canada. To help alleviate concerns of mental health, people are encouraged to get out and exercise. At the grocery stores, a number of items are in short supply including toilet paper, pasta, rice, tooth paste and pain killers.

One of the key differences however is the Australian government has asked for now all schools to remain open, although there have been some discussions about online classes.

“They don’t want to close the schools down because its not common in children, plus a lot of health care workers and other people that are considered essential services, have children and the government wants the people to go to work and have somewhere for their children to go,” she said.

Another alarming trend has been the criminal activity. Hughes said the government has now introduced measures to crack down on people that are hoarding and re-selling supplies at an inflated price (medical items, hand sanitizer, toilet paper etc).

“They even caught some people that were trying to ship toilet paper overseas,” she said.

Despite the challenges, Hughes said most people are trying to be positive, and artists who have been showcasing their talents by providing free online concerts have helped create a sense of community.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell