NewsLocal NewsCoronavirus

Actions

Chicago woman quarantines for 3 hours inside airplane bathroom

Marisa Fotieo tests positive for COVID-19 during flight to Iceland
Marisa Fotieo, Chicago woman who agreed to isolate in an airplane bathroom for three hours after testing positive for COVID-19 mid-flight to Iceland
Posted

CHICAGO — A Chicago woman said she chose to isolate herself in an airplane bathroom for three hours after testing positive for COVID-19 mid-flight.

Marisa Fotieo was flying to Iceland on Dec. 19 with her brother and dad.

She said she took two PCR tests and about five rapid tests before the flight. All of them were negative.

But when she started to feel a sore throat on the flight, she took another test and it was positive.

She said the flight was full, so there was no way to rearrange the seating that would allow her to be distanced from others.

@marisaefotieo

Shout out to @Icelandair for my VIP quarantine quarters.. ##luxuryliving ##imsolucky ##covid ##vaccinated ##fyp ##viralvideotiktok ##quarantine

♬ I'm So Lucky Lucky - Grandzz

Fotieo said a flight attendant asked if she would stay in the bathroom and she gladly agreed to protect others on the flight.

After the flight touched down in Iceland, she was shuttled to a Red Cross hotel where she started her 10 days of isolation.

During that time, she received gifts, a tree and a card from the flight attendants.

Fotieo documented the bathroom isolation in a TikTok video that's been viewed more than four million times.

Icelandair was contacted Thursday for comment but hasn't responded yet.