Marisa Fotieo, a teacher from Chicago, IL, was on her way to Europe for a vacation when she suddenly developed a sore throat midflight somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean, aboard Icelandair plane.
Fotieo, who brought several COVID-19 rapid testing kits with her on the flight, went to the plane’s lavatory and used one of them, only to find out that she was COVID-19-positive.
The woman immediately notified the flight attendant of her conditions, but there weren’t enough empty seats on the plane to properly isolate her.
Fotieo, who feared she might infect other passengers then asked if she could “just stay in the bathroom for the rest of the flight.”
She had to self-isolate in an airplane’s lavatory for four hours, until the aircraft landed in Reykjavik Airport.
“I can’t believe I spent four hours in that bathroom, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” the woman said.
After the Icelandair flight landed in Icelandic capital city of Reykjavik, the woman was placed in the Red Cross Humanitarian Hotel, with her ten-day quarantine currently in progress. However, she said she had been feeling well and planned to leave in a few days.
Fotieo’s father and brother, who were on the same Icelandair flight, have both tested negative for the virus and could continue their journey to Switzerland.
