I wrote a tip a few weeks ago titled, “How To Save Tons of Money, Hassles and Headaches When Traveling During Omicron.” The Cliff Notes version is to take a Covid test before leaving home and have a back-up plan, whether that’s travel insurance or help from friends and family, in case you test positive while you’re away.

I wish Marisa Fotieo, a schoolteacher from Michigan, had read that post and I bet she wishes she had, too. That’s because Marisa flew from Chicago to Reykjavík on IcelandAir on December 20 and not long after takeoff, she began to feel sick with a severe sore throat. She had a COVID-19 rapid test in her carry-on bag and took the test it in the plane’s lavatory. She told NBC News in an interview that it felt like it took only two seconds for the test to show positive.

Marisa is obviously a kind woman because instead of going back to her seat and exposing her fellow passengers, she isolated herself in the plane’s lavatory for four hours because her greatest fear was giving the other 150 passengers COVID-19. Not many people would do that. I know more than a few people who have COVID and have flown or gone out without wearing a mask because they just don’t care about their responsibility to protect others.

Marisa told NBC News “she was able to make it through being cooped up in the bathroom thanks to the care of flight attendant Ragnhildur “Rocky” Eiríksdóttir. “She made sure I had everything I needed for the next five hours from food to drinks and constantly checked on me assuring me I would be all right.”

As if Rocky wasn’t sweet enough during the flight, while Fotieo quarantined at a Red Cross hotel in Reykjavik, she brought her flowers and a little Christmas tree with lights. Foteio said, “It was so heartfelt, and she’s just an angel.”

So let this be a lesson for everyone to test before getting on a plane and to do everything you can to keep your fellow passengers COVID-19 free.

@marisaefotieoShout out to @Icelandair for my VIP quarantine quarters.. #luxuryliving #imsolucky #covid #vaccinated #fyp #viralvideotiktok #quarantine♬ I’m So Lucky Lucky – Grandzz

6 Comments On "Passenger Quarantines in Bathroom After Testing Positive Mid-Flight"
  1. Carol Conley|

    What about the landing without a seatbelt?

    1. Johnny Jet|

      I wondered the same thing

  2. Dave Strauss|

    Maybe the suction on the toilet seat kept her “secured” during the landing? lol

  3. Jane Long|

    Maybe she just held onto the grab bars in the lavatory during landing.

  4. Pamela Haddad|

    I would have quarantined also, but would have Cloroxed that entire bathroom while I was there. I’d be afraid to catch something worse in there.

  5. JohnC|

    That is a nice story. A former LA newscaster, Leyna Ngyuen, was in Cabo over Christmas and she boasted on her Facebook page that they had a plan if they tested positive before their flight. They would fly to Tijuana, walk across the border, and then drive home since you can test positive but still enter the country on a land border. She only cared about herself and not poor innocent people on the plane they would expose.

Leave a Reply

Required fields are marked *