US teacher tests positive for coronavirus mid-flight, isolates in toilet for 5 hours
- Marisa Fotieo used a rapid test kit after her throat started hurting on the way to Iceland
- Her video of her stay in the tiny aeroplane bathroom went viral, drawing over 4 million views on TikTok
A US schoolteacher travelling over the holidays voluntarily isolated in an aeroplane’s tiny bathroom for five hours after testing positive for Covid-19 mid-flight.
Marisa Fotieo was on a flight to Reykjavik, Iceland from Chicago on December 20 when her throat began to hurt, Today reported.
With rapid test kits handy, Fotieo decided to take one “and within what felt like two seconds” discovered she was positive for the virus.
“There’s 150 people on the flight, and my biggest fear was giving it to them,” she said.
She decided it would be best to quarantine herself in the aeroplane bathroom for the remainder of the flight which she estimated was five hours. She filmed what it was like in the tiny quarters in a video with over 4 million views on TikTok.
“Shout out to @Icelandair for my VIP quarantine quarters,” she said in the TikTok caption, along with #luxuryliving and #imsolucky hashtags.
According to Today, Fotieo said she was able to make it through isolating in the cramped space because of flight attendant Ragnhildur “Rocky” Eiríksdóttir, who provided food and drinks, and “constantly checked” on her.
Before departing the plane, Fotieo exchanged Instagram handles with Eiríksdóttir and later isolated again at the Red Cross hotel in Iceland.
Thousands of flights cancelled worldwide as Omicron hits Christmas travel
To her surprise, Eiríksdóttir sent her flowers and a little Christmas tree with lights so she could have a glimmer of holiday joy on Christmas despite having to quarantine alone.
In another TikTok clip, she said Eiríksdóttir was “truly an angel on this Earth” and brought her more gifts to open on Christmas morning.
Fotieo is one of many affected by Covid-19 during the holiday season as the Omicron variant is surging and thousands of flights have been affected.
As of Thursday morning, more than 1,000 US flights were cancelled and over 500 are delayed, according to FlightAware.
