A school teacher from Michigan was on board a plane bound for Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, when she tested positive for COVID-19. She opted to isolate herself in the small bathroom of the plane until she landed in her destination.
Christian News Now reported that the teacher, Marisa Fotieo, voluntarily isolated herself in the bathroom and captured her experience in a TikTok video. Accordingly, the video captioned, "Shout out to @Icelandair for my VIP quarantine quarters," went viral and was viewed 4.5 million times and received 1.6 million likes as of writing.
The video was posted on December 20 and also contained the hashtags "luxuryliving," "vaccinated," and "quarantine" while accompanied by the background music, "I'm So Lucky Lucky," by Grandezz. The video showed Fotieo in a beige top while wearing double masks. She gave a 360 view of her situation. The video also displays the text, "POV: you test positive for COVID while over the Atlantic Ocean."
NBC New York said Fotieo had to isolate herself for five hours in the bathroom where she took a COVID-19 rapid test during that flight. Fotieo explained she brought rapid test kits with her in the event that she might need them, which she did when she felt her throat beginning to hurt during the flight.
"It was a crazy experience," Fotieo said. "I just took my rapid test and I brought it into the bathroom, and within what felt like two seconds there were two lines (indicating a positive test)."
Fotieo disclosed that her decision to self-isolate in the bathroom was her way of protecting those who are in the flight with her.
"There's 150 people on the flight, and my biggest fear was giving it to them," Fotieo shared.
Fotieo pointed out that her sole consolation in "being cooped up in the bathroom" came through flight stewardess Ragnhildur Eiriksdottir who provided her ample care throughout the flight.
"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," Fotieo disclosed.
Eiriksdottir was so caring, Fotieo said, she even sent her presents to cheer her up during her hotel quarantine after they exchanged names and Instagram handles to keep in touch. Fotieo had to be quarantined in a Red Cross hotel upon reaching Reykjavik.
"She bought me flowers and a little Christmas tree with lights so I could hang it. It was so heartfelt, and she's just an angel," Fotieo said.
Fotieo announced an update about the matter in Tiktok, stating that her "flight stewardess is your new bestie." The update, which also went viral, was viewed by 151,800 times as of writing. She has also been uploading a series of videos to give her followers an update on her quarantine.
Iceland has been reported to experience a surge in COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant. NBC New York said more than 1,100 United States flights were canceled due to a shortage in staffing brought the omicron surge and due to the inclement weather.
The Omicron and Delta variants are said to be "twin threats" to the surge in COVID-19 cases seen in Australia, Britain, France, and the United States according to controversial World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on a news conference last December 29.
