Frisco woman stuck in Africa due to COVID-19 flight restrictions

FRISCO, Texas - A Frisco woman is stuck in Africa due to COVID-19 coronavirus airline restrictions and trying to get on evacuation flight back to the United States.

Andrea Olatunji lost her father to natural causes and traveled from North Texas to Lagos, Nigeria with her sister for his funeral nearly three weeks ago. During her trip, the ripple effect of the virus halted air travel.

Now, Olatunji is awaiting confirmation for a seat on a U.S. government flight.

“I do not want to miss out on the evacuation flight knowing that might be the only one in months,” Olatunji said.

RELATED: Coronavirus coverage

A poignant twist to her plight is that Olatunji’s husband, Dr. Michael Olatunji, is in Dallas working 12-hour shifts between two hospitals in the midst of the battle of coronavirus.

The couple have four children at home doing the best they can.

“He goes in every day. Every day he has to because at this time in medicine you just don’t ‘not’ serve. At the same time I’m getting emails from teachers about what my kids should be doing. Thankfully my teenage girl is playing mommy at this time, but I feel like it’s an emergency that I get there,” Olatunji said.

Olatunji and her husband are communicating with the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria as well as the State Department about their predicament. An email she received today said she’s being considered for the evacuation flight but not yet confirmed.

She’s ready to get home to her children.

“They're optimistic most of the time. They’re looking forward to me getting back home. They do understand the severity of the situation that is out of our control but at same time, the essentials of getting fed, getting tissue paper, things like that. It’s still vital and I find my husband goes to the store before he goes to the hospital, then coming back home and addressing their school work,” Olatunji said.