Carla Pagotto, a longtime Yellowknifer caught in the midst of the world's deadliest outbreak of COVID-19, remains in self-isolation in northern Italy with little knowledge of when she might finally be able to come home.
Northern News Services reported in early March that Pagotto was in lockdown in her ancestral home of San Fior, in the province of Treviso.
Globally, Italy, particularly northern Italy, has suffered more deaths than anywhere else on the planet with 17,127 deaths reported in the country as of Tuesday. The number of deaths reported daily has declined in recent days, however, with 604 reported on Tuesday.
photo courtesy of Taylor Pagotto
Pagotto stated in an email this week that she still remains in the Italian town and is still hoping to book a flight back to Yellowknife.
"We are still in quarantine after four weeks and we have strict rules, no walking further than 200 metres," she stated in the email.
She added that people in the town can only make trips to the grocery store or to a doctor. Police presence has increased substantially over the last month and so for the most part she is home alone.
"There are lots of urban police/police stopping people and (we) have to have a (permit) or a mask. The streets (are) empty."
Pagotto said since she began making attempts to return home, Air Canada has cancelled three different flights and "keeps changing dates."
When Yellowknifer last reported on Pagotto's situation, she had been planning to return to Canada the first week of April.
Pagotto's grandson Taylor Pagotto, who also resides in Yellowknife, said he is much more optimistic than he was as month ago and is grateful that Air Canada and the federal government are trying to find a resolution to the situation.
"We appreciate that Air Canada is actually trying," he said. "They will set a date and then it is gone and that is frustrating. But that is an improvement from when they were not talking to us.
"I'm not sure how much I would blame government now as they now seem more organized."
His grandmother is in constant contact with family members as well as friends as the situation progresses. Taylor said the family is more pleased that she is safe and not sick, especially as many of the hospitals in Italy are overcrowded and extremely busy.
"She is pretty restless but we are all feeling restless," he said. "Every week or so she is more persistent in saying that she wants to come home.
"We are kind of counting blessings because she is not sick which is great."
Taylor said she has been giving him advice to start wearing a mask as she has been doing on a consistent basis.
"She has a mask and is pretty persistent on me wearing a mask here," he said. "She is persistent that we should get more vigilant here which is a little unsettling."
The family is remaining hopeful that she will be home in May, but really there is no end in sight, Taylor said.