Woman Isolates Herself Inside Airplane Bathroom For 5 Hours After Testing COVID Positive Mid-Air

KEY POINTS

Since it was a full flight, there was no extra room for her
There were 150 other people on the flight to Reykjavík
Her father and brother, who were travelling with her, tested negative

A West Michigan school teacher, who was on a plane to Iceland, had to isolate herself inside the bathroom after testing positive for COVID-19 in the middle of a flight.

The incident happened on Dec. 20 when Marisa Fotieo of Chicago was en route to Reykjavík on an Icelandair flight. Her father and brother were with her on the journey, reported Today.

Fotieo said she began experiencing soreness in her throat about halfway through the flight, and decided to test herself using a rapid test she had with her.

"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 Today.

She then decided to stay isolated in the airplane bathroom for the remainder of the flight, since she didn't want to infect the over 150 people on the flight.

Fotieo captured the scene of her journey in the plane's tiny bathroom in a TikTok video that has been viewed more than 4 million times.

Though a harrowing journey, Fotieo credits flight attendant Ragnhildur "Rocky" Eiríksdóttir with keeping her calm. She was asked by the attendant to wait in the bathroom, while she figured out what to do next.

"I could hear something over the intercom that said something about a passenger on board testing positive," Fotieo was quoted by WZZM 13.

Since it was a full flight, there was no extra room for Fotieo. "There were like 150 people on board," said Fotieo, "so I said I would just stay in the bathroom for the rest of the flight."

"Rocky was so sweet and brought me water and snacks," she added, "and told me that would be my own little space."

Fotieo's brother and father both tested negative when they landed, and the two continued to Switzerland as planned. She had to quarantine in Iceland for 10 days at the Red Cross Humanitarian Hotel for free.

"They have medical personnel here that check on me and bring me food three times a day," Fotieo said, "and looking back on it, I'm so happy it turned out the way it had to because I've been cozy in here."

Her quarantine ends on Dec 30, which is when her father and brother will return to Reykjavík. They plan to spend four days in Iceland doing excursions like snowmobiling and seeing the Northern Lights.