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You're not kidding. Here's an article from USA Today. I hope all airlines ban him.
WEST PALM BEACH — JetBlue has banned a passenger who knowingly boarded a flight from New York to Palm Beach after testing positive for coronavirus.
"The health and safety of our customers and crewmembers is our first priority," JetBlue said in a statement sent by spokesperson Derek Dombrowski on Friday. "In reviewing last night’s event, we determined the customer boarded our flight knowing he was awaiting results for a coronavirus test without disclosing it to anyone at JetBlue."
The JetBlue statement continued: "Consistent with CDC guidance, we ask all customers who are not feeling well, who believe they may have coronavirus, or who are awaiting test results to avoid travel until they are cleared by a medical professional. Last night’s event put our crewmembers, customers, and federal and local officials in an unsettling situation that could have easily been avoided, and as such, this customer will not be permitted to fly on JetBlue in the future."
Palm Beach International Airport previously confirmed that a JetBlue plane and a concourse at its airport were scrubbed down Thursday morning after a flight from New York landed Wednesday night carrying a passenger who’d been infected with coronavirus.
“The airport is safe. The airport is clean. There’s no interruption to operations,” airport spokeswoman Lacy Larson told The Palm Beach Post on Thursday morning.
The passenger, whom Larson knew only as an adult, had tested positive for coronavirus before getting on JetBlue 253, a nonstop flight from JFK International Airport, she said.
She said both Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue and officials of the Florida Department of Health for Palm Beach County met the plane when it arrived on time at 8:37 p.m.
County health officials followed all guidelines “for a COVID-19 positive patient,” Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue said overnight.
Larson said JetBlue bypassed its usual gate at Concourse C and went instead to Concourse A, currently used only by Bahamasair.
She said the 109 passengers and a crew of five on the JetBlue flight stayed on the plane for at least two hours before coming off, where they were directly interviewed by Dr. Alina Alonso, the county’s health director.
All passengers, including the one with the illness, were told to quarantine themselves for 14 days, Larson said.
Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue said passengers were told to call the health department if they had any “medical concerns.”
Larson did not know if the ill passenger’s home was in the New York area or South Florida.
Because PBIA is not a connection hub, and because of the late hour of the arrival, it’s unlikely someone on the plane was connecting to another flight that night, Larson said.
Concourse A was shut down Wednesday night and was being “cleaned and sterilized,” Larson said. She said Bahamasair’s first flight is an arrival at mid-morning and, if necessary, it would use a gate at Concourse B.
Larson said the JetBlue aircraft was moved to a parking area off Concourse A. She said JetBlue would handle the cleaning of the plane.
Health officials have counted more than 20 cases of coronavirus in Florida. Wednesday’s case was the second confirmed incident in Palm Beach County, following one authorities discussed Sunday night, although the state health department is not counting either person as a Palm Beach County case, at least not yet.
The person discussed Sunday night came to the county for an event at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. The Pennsylvania Department of Health notified the county that a person from Pennsylvania was at the Biogen pharmaceutical company’s booth at a Feb. 28 conference on multiple sclerosis, County Mayor Dave Kerner said. That person is believed to be in Pennsylvania now.
