VIDEO – Woman Isolates in Plane Bathroom After Positive Coronavirus Test: 'I Freaked Out'

Amy FurrDecember 30, 2021

A woman is getting a lot of attention for video of herself isolating in a plane’s bathroom after she tested positive for the coronavirus during the flight.

The footage that was shared on TikTok December 20 had millions of views, 13 On Your Side reported Wednesday.

The outlet’s Keely Lovern talked with Marisa Fotieo over Zoom during her 10-day quarantine in Iceland.

Fotieo is from East Grand Rapids but currently resides in Chicago where she is a teacher. She had planned to visit Switzerland accompanied by her brother and father.

The group departed from Newark, New Jersey, on the Icelandair flight traveling to Reykjavik, Iceland, for a layover.

Not long into the five-hour trip, Fotieo said her throat began hurting. She had coronavirus rapid test kits and went to the restroom to use one.

“And within about two seconds, the test came back positive,” Fotieo recalled. “I freaked out and ran out of the bathroom and found the first person I could see. Luckily it was this amazing flight attendant named Rocky.”

Rocky asked the young woman to wait inside the restroom so she could plan what to do next.

When Rocky returned, she told Fotieo the flight was full, meaning there was no room for them to space her out from the others.

“There were like 150 people on board,” Fotieo explained. “So I said I would just stay in the bathroom for the rest of the flight.”

The video footage showed the woman inside the tiny bathroom with food and drinks on the shelf behind her:

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“I can’t believe I spent four hours in that bathroom,” Fotieo noted. “But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

The young woman explained she took five rapid tests in the days prior to the trip and they all returned negative, adding she was vigilant of virus safety measures out of concern for her father.

Her brother and father tested negative upon landing, and went to Switzerrland while Fotieo remained in Iceland for 10 days of quarantine inside a Red Cross Humanitarian Hotel.

She had to spend Christmas alone but the flight attendant, Rocky, sent a special gift to Fotieo on Christmas Eve.

“I can confidently say that I would have probably cried for 10 day straight had it not been for Rocky,” Fotieo stated. “Icelandair as a whole really made this experience joyful and memorable, and it was really so heartwarming.”

Additional videos on Fotieo’s TikTok profile documented her time in quarantine.

She said her father and brother will return to Reykjavik when the quarantine is over and they will spend a few days in Iceland.

Meanwhile, air travel endured more delays and cancellations on Wednesday while inclement weather and the spread of the omicron variant strained airline scheduling and employees, UPI reported.