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A Long Island man who flew from New York to Florida tested positive for coronavirus, prompting a thorough cleaning at JetBlue’s Kennedy Airport terminal and leading to the man’s ban from the airline, officials said Thursday.
The infected patient, a Nassau County resident, didn’t tell JetBlue he was awaiting results of a coronavirus test, the airline said.
He only alerted flight attendants of his condition after JetBlue Flight 253 landed in West Palm Beach about 9 p.m. Wednesday, officials and a witness said.
“When he was sitting on the plane, he got a phone call or a text message that it was a positive test,” passenger Scott Rodman told CNBC. “It’s kind of wild, if you have gotten tested, to go on a plane.”
“He was wearing masks and gloves. His wife was sitting in the same row as me and mentioned to others that he wasn’t feeling well,” passenger Scott Rodman told West Palm Beach TV station WPTV.
Passengers on the plane were held on the tarmac for hours so the patient could be evaluated and taken off the plane. Those who sat near the patient were encouraged to self-monitor and were released without having to see a doctor, WPTV reported.
JetBlue said the passenger is banned from flying the airline again because he “put our crewmembers, customers, and federal and local officials in an unsettling situation that could have easily been avoided.”
The incident led the airline to extensively clean Gate 7 at JFK’s Terminal 5, from where the flight departed, as well as surrounding gates, security checkpoints, check-in counters, kiosks, elevators, restrooms “and any other area the passenger went though based on security camera footage,” a Port Authority spokeswoman said in a statement.
“This is on top of the enhanced cleaning protocols that have been in place,” the spokeswoman said. “These protocols include at least twice daily sanitization of all common and high-touchpoint areas with EPA-approved and CDC-endorsed antiviral disinfectants, in addition to overnight deep cleaning of all terminal areas.”
A JetBlue spokesman said crew members “conducted a thorough sanitizing of the aircraft” after customers disembarked the plane and the airline “will continue to coordinate closely with health officials and provide them with any additional information required.”
JetBlue on Thursday called for the crew who worked the flight to return to work Friday.
“We’re asking customers who do not feel well or are concerned they may have coronavirus to not fly until cleared to travel by a doctor or health professional,” the spokesman added. “JetBlue is currently waiving change and cancellation fees to allow customers the opportunity to change or pause their travel plans should they need to.”