The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

RAJIV Williams, a first year student studying in Canada, is among the scores of Bahamian students unable to return home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Williams, who studies at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Canada, told The Tribune 80 percent of people left his campus once his school transitioned to online classes after fears over the pandemic heightened. Still, he said he didn’t expect the situation to escalate so quickly.

“I honestly was going to tough it out until the end of the semester, because I thought it was going to be cool and everything,” the 18-year-old said. “I had a ticket to come back home on April 18, but then it got cancelled because of the whole situation. I bought the ticket from January, but it was cancelled about three weeks ago.”

Mr Williams said he believed his ticket was cancelled after Canada closed its borders on March 18. He added that after he realised he would not be able to come home, he decided to book a domestic flight to be with his sister in another part of Canada.

“I’m currently in Halifax with my sister, I travelled on March 29,” he said. “Where I was not many people were panicking, but a lot of people were wearing masks and washing their hands like crazy. And when I was at the airport, I just wanted to get in and out of there, because as people passed by wearing masks, some of them were coughing and I was a little alarmed.”

Mr Williams said while he was disappointed he would not be able to come home to spend time with his parents, he was grateful he had a sibling in Canada whom he could stay with.

“It really helped me a lot because if I was by myself here I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do. I thought about all of that and I know it gives so many people who don’t have anybody a lot of stress and adds to the panic of the whole situation.

“That’s too much to handle because as a first year student in Canada, I think it puts a lot of pressure on you. I know for some, they were lucky to escape before Canada and the Bahamas closed their borders, but I know if they were in this position by themselves — with everything that’s going on — it would be too hard to focus.”

Asked whether he had any concerns the pandemic would be protracted and prevent him from coming home any time soon, he added: “I over-thought this way too much. Like before this whole thing happened, I envisioned me going back to the Bahamas, going to different events and spending time with family. But now, you can’t really see the future. It’s uncertain because nobody knows what’s going on at this moment in time.”