Death on passenger plane linked to Covid, two months late

'Nothing is completely risk-free': IATA said that the risk of transmission to passengers was low. Photo / Anthony Melone, Unsplash

A woman who died of breathing difficulties on an Arizona passenger plane was positive for Covid 19, it has been revealed by local officials.

The passenger in her 30s came into difficulty shortly before takeoff on the July 25 service according to NBC News, but medical staff were unable to revive her.

"They tried to give her oxygen" said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. "It was not successful. She died on the jetway."

The woman who was flying to Fort Werth airport was a local of Garland, Dallas but has not been named.

The underlying cause of this disturbing incident was only attributed to Covid 19 as recently as last week.

The woman was known to have "underlying high risk health conditions," according to WFAA news, but the case was only counted as a coronavirus death this weekend.
"We don't know a whole lot," Jenkins said at a local press conference this weekend. "We may not know if she was aware she was sick."

The woman who is thought to have contracted the disease in Arizona, is a "reminder that there is no age restriction in Covid", said Jenkins.

The delay in attributing the death to coronavirus is thought to have been costly, as it has also set back the possibility of contract tracing of fellow passengers who could have been exposed to the virus.

In the time since the north Texas county has confirmed 554 cases.

This month, The International Air Transport Association (IATA) made a presentation on the risk of Covid transmission to plane passengers.

"Nothing is completely risk-free" IATA's director general Alexandre de Juniac, told CNN.
"But with just 44 published cases of potential in-flight COVID-19 transmission among 1.2 billion travellers, the risk of contracting the virus on board appears to be in the same category as being struck by lightning."