An American school teacher says she spent five hours in voluntary self-isolation in a plane’s toilet after testing positive for Covid-19 mid-flight.
Marisa Fotieo says she felt her throat hurt while travelling from Chicago to Reykjavik, in Iceland, on 20 December.
Ms Fotieo says she performed a rapid test with a kit she had brought with her, which confirmed she was infected.
She remained in the toilet for the rest of the trip, and a flight attendant provided food and drinks to her.
It was not immediately clear whether she had had to present a Covid-19 test before boarding the flight.
“It was a crazy experience,” Ms Fotieo, who is from Michigan, told reporters. “[There were] 150 people on the flight, and my biggest fear was giving it to them”.
A video she posted on Tiktok from inside the Icelandair jet’s toilet has been viewed more than four million times. She praised a flight attendant for helping her during the ordeal.
“She made sure I had everything I needed for the next five hours from food to drinks and constantly checked on me assuring me I would be all right,” she said.
Ms Fotieo said she had had to isolate in a Red Cross hotel upon arriving in Iceland.
Her ordeal came amid the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, which continues to fuel a surge in cases across the US. Studies suggest this variant of the virus is milder than others but more transmissible.
MUJER DA POSITIVO A COVID-19 Y SE AÍSLA EN BAÑO DE AVIÓN RUMBO A ISLANDIA
Una mujer identificada como #MarisaFotieo, se volvió #viral tras subir un video en #TikTok en donde muestra que decidió pasar el #viaje en el baño del avión (1/3) pic.twitter.com/AfSSpbumAz
— El Dato Noticias Morelos (@eldatomx) December 30, 2021