Healthcare workers around the world are in the spotlight this week as they selflessly work daily to fight the coronavirus pandemic and care people infected. We asked Irish health workers globally would they consider returning to Ireland to help with the Covid-19 crisis. Thank you to everyone who responded with a mix of views and concerns. One doctor in Perth, Australia replied: "My heart is broken in two– one half desperately wants to come to Ireland, the other knows I'm needed here." You can read the full story here. Our most read story this week is about the almost 100 doctors returning to Dublin Airport yesterday on emergency flight to help in pandemic. The "rescue flight" from Australia, connected through London and had been organised in recent days by the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Government is currently working with 2,000 Irish citizens trying to return home. They said it is considering financial aid for Irish people stranded abroad.
Regular Abroad contributor Anne Casey wrote about landing in the US as the coronavirus crisis travel restrictions kicked in, worried she was thousands of kilometres from her children in Sydney, and her family in Ireland. Paula Gahan, originally from Kildare, wrote about fleeing Malaysia as the country went into lockdown and working in cabin crew in a flight with anxious passengers: "I handed one passenger a bottle of water, he flinched and looked at me nervously before taking it, a strange combination of fear and embarrassment in his eyes."Abroad contributor Peter Flanagan wrote from London: "I used to think Brexit was our biggest crisis. Now I'm nostalgic for it."
I hope you and your family are safe and well at this unprecedented and challenging time. If you would like to contribute by writing your own story (max 600 words) you are welcome to contact abroad@irishtimes.com.
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