Coronavirus: Taranaki councillor battling to get wife home from Philippines after six weeks of separation

When John Sandford's wife went to the Philippines to mourn her mother he never imagined they'd be apart for months.

Ulinda Sandford has been stuck in the country for more than six weeks due to coronavirus restrictions on travel, and John said he's been battling to get her home.

John, who is the longest serving councillor in Taranaki, said his wife has been staying with her sister in a village where Covid-19 is a concern.

"Where Ulinda is, they're not testing," John said.

"They believe somebody's died down the road."

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While his wife of 31 years is stuck in the Philippines, John is alone in his bubble and unable to work due to being high risk because of diabetes. 

"She just wants to come home," he said. "It's been a bit tough."

The 64-year-old said there's a chance the Government will organise flights home on April 28, but last time there was a flight Ulinda couldn't make it due to reasons she couldn't control.

"We've really got our hopes pinned on this one," John said. "The scary part is if this one doesn't work, when are we getting her home?"

Ulinda's mother's funeral was held in the Philippines on March 14, the day the Southeast Asian country went into lockdown.

There was no indication of what was to come but within days the country's airways and boat transport stopped.

"It's been so hard and so upsetting for everybody," he said.

There was a glimmer of hope last week when flights back to New Zealand were arranged by the Government.

But the place where Ulinda is staying is five hours away from an airport and there are police and army officials stopping people breaking lockdown.

Ulinda needed documentation to travel and at the time she was sent a piece of paper that declared where she was going and why, but it was in English.

"It didn't even have Ulinda's name, it was not going to cut the mustard."

Which is why now the Sandfords are getting ready. They hope to have an official piece of paper, and have a driver ready to take her to the airport.

John hasn't even thought about when Ulinda gets back to New Zealand, and has to go into quarantine, but he just wants her out of the village she's stuck in.

"God I'm hoping and praying," he said. "Once she's at the airport we've won the battle really."