A WREXHAM man who spent about six weeks in quarantine in Peru has thanked those who helped him to get through the experience.

Alex Foulkes, of Chester Road in Garden Village, left the UK on January 14 to go travelling in South America.

On March 15, he and more than 150 other people were put into quarantine at a hostel in Cusco, Peru, after two guests tested positive for the virus.

Mr Foulkes said what followed was weeks of confusion, uncertainty and worry - as he and other guests missed repatriation flights due to the quarantine measures.

“It was like a whirlwind,” he said.

“We were given different information every day. First we were told we’d have to do 14 days quarantine, then it was 28 days.

“Then a few days later we were told it could be one to three months. We just didn’t know when we were going to leave.

“One night we were asked if any of us had underlying health issues - after that people in hazmat suits came in and took those people out to the courtyard and sprayed them and all of their belongings down, then put them on a bus to another hotel in the city.

“But we didn’t know then where they were being taken - that was one of the scariest moments.”

Mr Foulkes said he was later moved to another hotel along with some of his fellow guests, but he had to stay in his room 24 hours a day.

He said: “They would knock on the door at half past seven in the morning and leave half a tuna sandwich and an apple, then they would bring some lunch at 2pm, followed by chicken and rice for dinner at 8pm.

“That was it for a week. I was in there with a Dutch guy originally, but he got out on the second day so I was in there for five days on my own with nothing to do and no internet. I didn’t see sunlight for a week.

“That was the lowest point - it was horrendous.”

He explained that having those fellow guests to go through the experience with had been very helpful, explaining: “The people I met, especially the fellow Brits - I was so glad they were with me.

“I’m quite strong minded but sometimes when we’d get news, like that we might have to be there for three months, some were very upset.

“But we’d make jokes and pull together. They really got me through it.

“Even in the hotel when I was on my own we had Whatsapp groups between us so we’d be talking to each other all day.

“When we left and I got back to the UK it was a strange mixture of emotions.

“We’d all been together for the last six weeks, 24/7, and to not be able to talk to them now - I was happy to be back but sad at the same time.”

Mr Foulkes said he was also immensely grateful to 11 of the staff members at the hostel in Cusco, who decided to isolate themselves with the quarantined guests in order to prevent them being “kicked out”.

“Some of them ended up catching covid,” he said.

“It turns out I had it as well. A week before we left I had the antibody test and I was told it was positive and that I’d have had it about four weeks before.”

As his mother has an underlying health condition, Mr Foulkes is now isolating with a friend in Bristol.