Here in Australia we have so far been one of the luckier countries when it comes to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The Independent interviewed some of our local expats who are residing in some of the COVID-19 hot spots around the world, to find out firsthand how they are getting on, during this nightmare.

Meet Donna Lobban, a professional Squash player who is formally of Yamba, now living in Sheffield in England. Having been away since 2018, we reached out to ask how she was coping with COVID-19 in another country.

What have you been doing in England since you got there?

Myself and my husband are both professional squash players and after being based in Edinburgh, Scotland, we decided to move to Sheffield about a year and a half ago to work with a coach there. We spend our time training there between tournaments overseas and we now have a great training base and support team around us that we work with.

Describe what it’s like where you are due to the impact of Covid-19 at the moment, how is self isolating impacting on you and how you are currently spending your day?

Due to Covid-19 the PSA World Squash Tour has been suspended until further notice, which means as professional athletes we are currently out of work.

My husband Greg is from Inverness, Scotland and we decided to come up and visit his family here after all our international tournaments were cancelled. The UK then went into ‘lockdown’ shortly after we got here and so we have stayed here since.

We are doing our best to still keep fit and strong so we are ready for when the tour resumes and we can compete again, it requires a bit of thinking outside the box and being creative to come up with things we can do at home. Training still takes up a lot of our time, but I also really enjoy cooking and I now have more time to come up with and try new recipes.

Is there anything different in your country’s environment, are you living under martial law? What is allowed and what’s not allowed?

The UK government has just announced another 3 weeks of ‘lockdown’ after already having a month of it. We are encouraged not to leave the house unless it is for essential grocery shopping or for exercise once a day. Luckily here at Greg’s parents’ house we have a nice big backyard where we can do a lot of our training without having to leave the house!

Any message for family and friends back home?

I love and miss you all!! Please everyone, listen to the advice you are given and stay home and away from others (that aren’t in your household), the more we do this and take it seriously, the sooner that life will be able to go back to normal and the less lives that will be lost.

Read about how others are coping around the world with COVID-19  in this series:

Cameron Pilley: www.clarencevalleynews.com.au/cameron-pilley-expats-take-on-covid-19

Morgan Pilley: www.clarencevalleynews.com.au/morgan-pilley-expats-take-on-covid-19

Leon Gulaptis: www.clarencevalleynews.com.au/leon-gulaptis-expats-take-on-covid-19