Flies, extreme heat and isolation spring to mind when former Ronald Reagan staffer Terry Abdoo-King recalls her time in Alice Springs, but there's no place she'd rather be right now.
Ms Abdoo-King is currently living in lockdown in Arlington, Virginia, 6.5 kilometres from the White House in Washington DC, where she used to work.
Ms Abdoo-King, who worked for the Northern Territory's Department of Health in the mid-2000s, has nothing but praise for Australia's response to the coronavirus crisis — especially in comparison with her home country's.
"Believe me, I'd rather be in Alice Springs right now because it seems much safer," she said.
"People have abided by the restrictions and you've been able to keep everything in check.
"If you look at the beaches in Florida, people are packed on the beaches.
"People are just not listening. Just stay home. I mean, how hard is it?
"You have to go out for essentials, but people aren't wearing masks — people are not compliant."
'Nothing was planned'
The seriousness of the pandemic started to become clear to Ms Abdoo-King at the end of February.
By mid-March everything was closed, including the school where she worked.
"It all happened very fast," she said.
"They shut down the schools, they shut down work, they shut down the restaurants, they shut down everything — it was like a ghost town.
"Nothing had been planned — the students didn't even know. By noon we got the word from the administrators that school was going to closed …
"Now there's talk that the schools won't even open in September."
'No confidence'
Ms Abdoo-King said the handling of the pandemic in the US had been very poor from all levels of government.
"There's no organisation, there's no testing," she said.
"Every state seems to be on their own.
"I read the paper and every day it shows a chart — there are more cases every day, hospitalisations are going up every day, and testing has not been organised.
She said the crisis was taking a toll on her mental health.
"Some days are better than others — I have it a lot better, at least we're in a house," she said.
"I can go in my yard, but it's not good.
"I've never been through anything like this before and the worst part about it is, when will it end?"
Ms Abdoo-King said Donald Trump's handling of the situation was doing little to buoy her spirits.
"I'm not confident at all with my current president," she said.
"I keep thinking, if Ronald Reagan was in charge, this would never have happened — believe me."
