After testing positive for COVID-19 mid-flight, a woman recalled being quarantined in a plane restroom for five hours.
Marisa Fotieo documented her ordeal in the temporary isolation facilities in a TikTok video that has been seen over 4.5 million times.
@marisaefotieo Shout out to @Icelandair for my VIP quarantine quarters.. luxuryliving imsolucky covid vaccinated fyp viralvideotiktok quarantine
Fotieo had been flying with Icelandair from Chicago to Reykjavik in time for Christmas, but she claims she developed a sore throat only a few hours into the voyage.
Fearing the worst, Fotieo pulled out a quick antigen test from her carry-on bag and went straight to the bathroom. In an interview with NBC’s Today, Fotieo says the test strip appeared with two lines indicating a positive result in less than two seconds.
Fearing that she would infect her seatmates, Fotieo decided that the only choice was to spend the rest of the flight in the restroom.
“There’s 150 people on the flight, and my biggest fear was giving it to them,” Fotieo told Today.
Fortunately, one of Icelandair’s flight attendants came to Fotieo’s rescue and made sure she had snacks and drinks to keep her as comfortable as possible for the rest of the flight.
Fotieo was rushed into the slightly more pleasant environs of hotel quarantine upon his arrival in Iceland.
Ragnhildur ‘Rocky’ Eirksdóttir, the flight attendant, even bought gifts for Fotieo, including flowers, to make her forced stay in Reykjavik more comfortable.
Vaccinated travelers must have a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of departure, according to Iceland’s current pandemic travel guidelines.
While quick antigen tests are highly good at picking up positive cases when someone is actively infectious, they aren’t as good at identifying a positive case within a few days after symptom onset, hence some nations have lowered the duration for them.
And, whereas Iceland’s inhabitants and residents are expected to retest upon arrival, travelers like Fotieo are not now required to do so.
Featured image: TikTok / Marisa Fotieo
