Do I stay or do I go? The impossible choices facing migrants stranded by coronavirus

Zoe Osborne explores what happens when you are living and working thousands of miles from home – and then the world stops moving

A passenger checks the departure board at Kuala Lumpur international airport on Saturday. Many countries have urged their citizens to return home – but for some it isn’t so simple (Getty)

The coronavirus outbreak has left Kate* with an impossible choice. An Australian national living with her British husband and three children in Vietnam, she is one of thousands around the world having to make the same simple call – do you stay or do you go?

Since the first travel bans to and from China in January, the outbreak of Covid-19 has spread to every corner of the globe, infecting (as of Saturday morning) more than 275,000 people in 166 countries or territories worldwide, with more than 11,000 deaths.

As borders close, flights are cancelled and airports shut down, many countries have issued warnings to their citizens working abroad to come home before it’s too late. For many people, this is far easier said than done.