WHILE most Wellington residents have been coming to terms with Government restrictions on movement during the coronavirus crisis, one town councillor has experienced mandatory quarantine, a night-time curfew, water rationing and State food parcels.

Cllr James Hunt, who is also the Somerset county councillor for the Wiveliscombe and Milverton area, has been stranded in the Philippines for nearly three weeks.

He flew to Manila with his wife Alma to visit her family in the south of the country and arrived on the same day it was announced all internal travel services were being suspended, including flights, trains and ferries – with more than 7,000 islands making up the Philippines, shipping is a major form of transport.

With their connecting flight to Ozamiz cancelled after an 11-hour delay, the couple went to a hotel which they had pre-booked for a short stay in Manila.

As they did so, a state of community quarantine was declared in the Luzon region, which includes metro Manila, meaning they could not move outside their small ‘barangay’ or area of the city – the capital is divided into 897 ‘barangays’.

Cllr Hunt told the WWN: “I booked for another week in the hotel, and for the first two days we were able to go to a mall and the local restaurants etc.

“Then they announced ‘enhanced community quarantine’ which means like in the UK you have to stay in your house and can only go out to buy food or medicine or work if you work in key areas such as health or food supply.

“They also said all non-essential businesses must close and we interpreted that as not including the hotel.

“However, the following morning the hotel told us they were closing at 2pm that day, as would be all the other hotels in the city, and we had to leave.

“With nowhere else to go, we decided to see if our church, Iglesia ni Cristo, could help.”

For the full story, see this week’s Wellington Weekly News.