A woman in her 30s died of COVID-19 on a Spirit Airlines flight in July, according to officials at Albuquerque Airport in New Mexico.
Last July flight from Las Vegas to Dallas-Fort Worth veered to Albuquerque when the team reported that a woman did not respond on board, said Stephanie Kitts, a spokesperson for Albuquerque International Sunport, in an email to The Arizona Republic, a member of the USA TODAY. Network.
“Based on this report and the fact that COVID was not mentioned at the time of the abduction, we treated this as we would any other medical incident,” Kitts said.
Authorities responded and decided the woman had died when she arrived, she said.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, Texas, announced the woman’s death Sunday in a press received through NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, and also noted that she had underlying fitness issues.
He said the woman, who lived in Garland, Texas, had difficulty breathing and gained oxygen, but died on the bridge in Albuquerque, NBC reported.
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On Tuesday, Lauren Trimble, Jenkins’ chief of staff, told the Republic of Arizona that the death “was mistakenly reported in Arizona,” but that it happened in New Mexico.
Jenkins wrote on a tweet Tuesday that his prayers went with the woman’s circle of relatives, as well as with “every circle of relatives who has lost someone by Covid-19. “
My prayers are with this circle of relatives and with each and every circle of relatives who have lost someone to Covid-19. We will not provide many more details in accordance with privacy laws.
Jenkins said he would not disclose many more key points about the incident and mentioned privacy laws.
So what happens if a passenger gets sick from COVID-19 or dies in the air?
Spirit Airlines spokesman Erik Hofmeyer told USA TODAY: “Our flight attendants are extensively trained to respond to medical emergencies and use various resources, adding communication with our field-designated medical professionals, medical kits and non-public protective equipment, and receive assistance from an accredited medical corps of workers traveling on the flight. “
He added that the airline, which cooperates with all the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was in the process of cooperating with all the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USA, Requests data to be used in contact search efforts.
According to the CDC website, when an illness or death occurs on an interstate flight, the captain is expected to notify your airline’s designated air traffic or point of contact with main points, such as the nature of the threat to public fitness on board and the number of suspected cases, as well as the airport of departure and destination of the flight , the estimated time of arrival and the number of people on board. From there, air traffic or airline contact the CDC, which then communicates with the nearest quarantine station and the local fitness branch in that jurisdiction.
The CDC protocol also requires foreign pilots to report any illness or death on board at the quarantine station closest to their destination airport prior to arrival.
Symptoms that succeed at this alert point include:
Contributing: Jayme Deerwester and Morgan Hines, USA TODAY
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