Travel

Woman self-isolates in plane toilet for five hours after Covid-positive test mid-flight

Marisa Fotieo was supplied with food and drinks in cubicle after throat began to hurt

Photograph: Getty Images

Samantha Lock
Fri Dec 31 2021 - 11:10

A US woman has told how she confined herself to an aeroplane toilet cubicle after testing positive for Covid halfway through a flight from Chicago to Iceland.

Marisa Fotieo, a teacher from Michigan, said her throat began to hurt halfway through the trip so she went to the bathroom to perform a rapid Covid test which confirmed she was infected.

"I just took my rapid test and I brought it into the bathroom, and within what felt like two seconds there were two lines [indicating a positive test]," Fotieo told NBC News.

“There’s 150 people on the flight, and my biggest fear was giving it to them,” she said.

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Sharing the news over TikTok, Fotieo posted a short video from inside the cramped quarters, writing: “POV you test positive for Covid while over the Atlantic Ocean.”

"Shout out to Icelandair for my VIP quarantine quarters," she added.

Fotieo said she remained in the bathroom for the remainder of the flight, relying on flight attendant Ragnhildur “Rocky” Eiriksdottir to provide food and drinks.

Fotieo’s TikTok video has been viewed more than 4m times since it was first uploaded on December 21st, with viewers curious to know how she had been able to board the flight.

Fotieo addressed the concerns in the platform’s comments section, explaining that she received two negative PCR tests before boarding. “I never made it to my destination,” she updated fans over TikTok. “Quarantined in Iceland now.”

In an apparent attempt to keep entertained during the mandatory 10-day isolation, Fotieo has since posted a series of videos from inside her hotel quarantine in Reykjavik.

In an interview with CNN, Fotieo said she was fully vaccinated with a booster shot and had been en route to her final destination of Switzerland with her brother and father when she tested positive mid-flight.

"I opted to stay in the bathroom because I did not want to be around others on the flight," the early childhood teacher said. – Guardian

AFotieoIcelandairCoronavirusMarisa Fotieo