Australian woman Eileen Coloretti fears being admitted to a hospital in New York City - where the coronavirus has now claimed more lives than 9/11 - would be a death sentence.
The 45-year-old Brisbane woman, who works as a tour operator, lives in an apartment on Roosevelt Island where nearly 20 people have tested positive to COVID-19.
She chose to stay put for fear of possibly contracting the virus on a flight home and then infecting her family members - five of whom have immune issues and chronic asthma.
But Ms Coloretti does not feel safe.
"I wouldn't want to be admitted into hospital in New York right now ... it is a death sentence," she told AAP.
"The sound of the sirens, which I normally don't hear, is constant now. I don't scare easily and this is downright scary."
Ms Coloretti's life running tours was upended when Broadway closed on March 12 - some 10 days before the AFL suspended its season back in Australia.
She was fully booked throughout the lucrative student tour season from March to June, but in just 10 minutes after the announcement was made she saw $US25,000 ($A40,000) worth of work disappear.
Soon after the 45-year-old lost her second job, as a casual at Macy's, so is now unemployed and living off the $USD105 ($A170) a week she receives in benefits as a permanent resident.
"I am stressed and alone but I have a good network of friends calling and messaging every day," she said.
New York state recorded 731 new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, while data from Johns Hopkins University showed more than 3485 people have died in the city from the virus.
But like Ms Coloretti, Australian actress and director Kaye Tuckerman chose to stay.
The Sydney woman said one of her friends in New York City had died from the virus, while three were in hospital on ventilators and a further dozen or more had tested positive to COVID-19.
But still, she feels safer staying in her Manhattan apartment rather than stepping onto a potentially illness-laden flight home.
"To be asymptomatic, get on a plane that was a potential petri dish for 24 hours, and then potentially infect my parents ... I just felt that was irresponsible," Ms Tuckerman told AAP.
Ms Tuckerman also clearly remembers the day Broadway closed - she was in the city's theatre district and it was meant to be the opening night of a musical called Six.
"It was surreal to see a florist delivery man at the stage door with a trolley full of opening night bouquets," she said. "He just stood there dumbstruck."
Meanwhile, China on Wednesday lifted its 76-day lockdown on Wuhan, which was the original epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.
But for an Australian living in Shanghai, life has been slowing returning to normal for some time.
Gigi Sun, a Melbourne woman who works in urban design, emerged from self-isolation to return to work in late February.
Some of her colleagues had recently begun to take off their masks and eat lunch together, while traffic jams have re-emerged on highways and reopened parks were swamped by visitors.
Ms Sun said people were also starting to gather for small parties, with nightclubs issuing coupons in a bid to encourage punters to come at different times to avoid overcrowding.
"Many people here believe that the darkest hour has passed," the 37-year-old told AAP.
"It was such an empty city and now it seems that everything has gradually recovered from the depression."
Australian Associated Press
