A couple from Quebec drove more than 3,400 miles across Canada and flew another 500 miles into the remote community of Old Crow, the northernmost community in Yukon, to escape the coronavirus pandemic, reports Vice.

They were quickly turned away and sent packing.

"We were busy dealing with a life-altering pandemic, and this couple just strolls off the plane like cartoon characters," First Nations chief Dana Tizya-Tramm said.

Just 250 people live in Old Crow, which sits about 60 miles east of the Alaskan border and is only accessible by air. The community has asked people not to come there in order to limit the potential for exposure.

"I do feel for these individuals — when I spoke with them they were legitimately scared," Tizya-Tramm said.

"They had sold everything that they had, drove across the country, and jumped on a flight to our community. He said that they literally just picked it out on a map and figured it would be the safest place in Canada to weather a COVID-19 storm."

Tizya-Tramm said the couple "couldn't be older than 35."

The couple was met at the airport by a Vuntut Gwitchin official who discusses protocols and hands out self-isolation documents. The person helped the couple find a place to stay. That is when Tizya-Tramm got in touch with them.

The Royal Canadian Mountain Police met them at the local co-operative, which rents out rooms, and told them to stay in their room at all times until they left Sunday on a flight out of town.

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