US Teacher Quarantines In Plane Restroom For 5 Hours After Testing Covid Positive Mid-Flight

Marisa Fotieo, a teacher from Chicago, felt sore throat during her flight to Iceland & took a self-test using rapid test kit. She found herself Covid-positive & was allowed to isolate in the restroom.

Representational image of an Icelandair flight | Photo: Getty

New Delhi: An air passenger travelling to Iceland from the US last week spent five hours in one of the bathrooms on the plane after she found out mid-flight that she was Covid positive.

According to an NBC report, Marisa Fotieo, a teacher from Chicago, was going to Iceland for a European vacation with her father and brother. Travelling amid the pandemic, and at a time when Omicron cases are increasing worldwide, she was carrying a few rapid self-test kits along, just in case. 

The report said Fotieo felt a sore throat while on the flight, and took a test in the plane’s washroom. The test result came within seconds and she got to know she was positive for Covid-19.

A Fox News report in the New York Post said she confided about her status to a flight attendant but was told there weren't enough empty seats to isolate her properly.   

Fotieo said she feared she might pass on the virus to others so requested the plane staff to let her “just stay in the bathroom for the rest of the flight”.

Father, Brother Test Negative

Her father and brother tested negative upon arrival in Iceland, and continued on their further journey to Switzerland, NBC News reported. 

Fotieo is currently quarantining at the Red Cross Humanitarian Hotel in Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. In an email to NBC, she praised the flight attendant who she said went out of her way to help her during the flight and even after that. Fotieo also said her stay in the hotel has been comfortable, and that she planned to leave soon. 

She has since posted a video on TikTok, praising Icelandair.