Michigan teacher isolates in plane bathroom after positive COVID-19 test midflight

A Michigan teacher isolated in an airplane bathroom for five hours after testing positive for COVID-19 in-flight while traveling to Iceland from Chicago.

Marisa Fotieo was flying on Dec. 20 when she took a rapid test she had on hand after her throat began to hurt, USA Today reported. Fotieo said that “within what felt like two seconds” she learned she tested positive for the virus. 

“There’s 150 people on the flight, and my biggest fear was giving it to them,” Fotieo told NBC’s “Today.”

The teacher then decided to quarantine in the airplane’s bathroom for the remaining five hours of the flight, where she filmed a TikTok video that has amassed more than 4 million views. 

Fotieo told “Today” that she was able to make it through the cramped quarantine due to flight attendant Ragnhildur “Rocky” Eiríksdóttir, who delivered food and drinks while she was in the airplane bathroom and “constantly checked” on her.

After the plane landed in Reykjavik, Fotieo left to isolate at a Red Cross hotel. Eiríksdóttir sent her flowers and a small Christmas tree with lights to her room so she would have a taste of Christmas cheer while she was quarantining, according to USA Today.

Fotieo documented the gifts in another TikTok, describing Eiríksdóttir, who brought her additional gifts to open on Christmas morning, as “truly an angel on this Earth.”

Airlines canceled thousands of flights earlier this week as holiday travelers scrambled to get back home as the omicron variant causes a surge in COVID-19 cases.