Woman test COVID-19 positive mid flight, isolate herself in the toilet for 5 hours

After testing positive for Covid-19 mid-flight, a US school teacher said she spent five hours in voluntary self-isolation in a plane's restroom. Marisa Fotieo stated she had a sore throat while flying from Chicago to Reykjavik, Iceland, on December 20. She used a kit she took with her to run a quick test, which revealed she was infected.

Fotieo stayed in the restroom for the duration of the journey, and a flight attendant brought her food and drinks. It was unclear whether she was required to take a Covid-19 test before boarding the trip.

Ms Fotieo, who is from Michigan, told NBC News, "It was a weird experience. The flight had 150 people on it, and my greatest worry was giving the infection to them."

Her video from inside the Icelandair jet's toilet has been viewed over four million times on Tiktok. She thanked a flight attendant for her assistance throughout the situation.

"She made sure I had everything I needed for the next five hours, from food to beverages, and she kept checking in on me to make sure I was okay," she told NBC.

When she arrived in Iceland, Ms Fotieo said she had to isolate at a Red Cross hotel.

Her ordeal occurred when the Omicron variant of Covid-19 expanded across the United States, causing an increase in cases. According to studies, this strain of the virus is milder than others yet more easily transmitted.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's case tracker, the country's seven-day daily average of new cases is at 277,000, the highest level since the epidemic began. Death and hospitalisation rates, on the other hand, have remained essentially constant.

The rising number of people forced to segregate due to diseases has put strain on a variety of businesses, including air travel. According to air travel monitoring site FlightAware, disruptions continued for a sixth day on Thursday, with approximately 1,100 cancellations across the country.