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A PASSENGER WAS taken off a Ryanair flight at a London airport after receiving a text saying he tested positive for coronavirus.
The passenger, who has not been identified, and his travel companion were on a flight to Pisa, Italy, from London Stansted airport on Wednesday when he received the text message before departure.
Ryanair said in a statement that they were both seated for only 10 minutes before they were taken off the plane and taken to an isolation area at the airport.
The flight to Pisa went ahead after a delay of one hour and 20 minutes while seats and overhead cabins were disinfected.
Ryanair said in its statement: “Since this passenger and his companion had complied fully with Ryanair health regulations, they were both wearing masks at all times at Stansted Airport and for the very short period – less than 10 mins – they were seated on the aircraft prior to departure.
“There was little if any risk of Covid-19 transmission to other passengers or crew members as all of whom were also wearing face masks at all times.
“The aircraft departed for Pisa following a delay of one hour and 20 mins to allow for the empty seats and overhead cabin bins to be disinfected to comply with all UK health authority guidance.
“Ryanair apologises to all passengers for this short delay.”
A spokesman from Stansted Airport said: “We were made aware of the passenger by the airline and members of the airport’s fire service attended the aircraft and escorted the passenger and travel partner to an isolation area, where they were put in contact with Public Health England who then oversaw the passenger’s onward journey.”
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Should have been in self isolation while waiting the results.
Well I think it the the point of the whole NPHET /Goverment guidelines is that we protect the vulnerable in society… may not affect you put you could pass it on to someone who will die from it. The more than likely aspect is that every family will have a vulnerable person that could die from it.
The Selfish Gene is a good read.
@Paul Buckley: i am not in contact with any vulnerable person. So that’s not correct to assume. And if I had vulnerable people in my networks I would probably choose not seeing them. Or otherwise only seeing them at their own risk but following extra precautions.
@Dr Pablo Rojas Coppari: but you could be in contact with someone who is in contact with a vulnerable person. Is that really so difficult to understand?
@Dr Pablo Rojas Coppari: Clearly not a doctor of medicine
@Dr Pablo Rojas Coppari: How would you know? There are plenty of people out there walking around with conditions that may make them vulnerable but it may not yet be diagnosed. Its often only when things go awry that problems get identified. For all you know, you might have a vulnerable condition yourself that you aren’t aware of.
@Mr Snrub: I find it humourous that people decide to put Dr. before their name on Twitter. I know it’s common in the US where people love titles, but unless you are actually tweeting about your academic work, it doesn’t add any extra validity to your 280 characters. As you mentioned, he is definitely not an MD.
They should be charged with endangering others. Why on Earth were they planning to travel after being tested?? If they were tested, then they had displayed enough symptoms or were in contact with someone who had been confirmed and thus should have known better!
Ok great they found out and oh so kindly informed the flight crew before take off.. but what if the text had arrived after they arrived in Italy? Were they going to tell anyone then? Would they have quarantined in a hotel to ride it out putting hotel staff at risk? Would they have gone to a hospital taking up another bed with their irresponsibility?
This is just so bad I don’t even have enough words.
@Amy Wallis: because Phil Hogan said it was ok!
@Amy Wallis: You don’t know if they had symptoms. Could easily be a health worker that undergoes regular testing as part of his/her job!!!
Witch hunt until all facts are known does not help.
@Amy Wallis: you can’t say without knowing the facts. For example everyone in Luxembourg gets tested every fortnight. They don’t have to drop everything while waiting on the result.
If the passenger got a text confirming a positive result it’s most likely he informed cabin crew as i can’t see how else they would know. Sounds like they did the right thing and acted correctly
@Olivia Smith: so how did the crew know? The passenger received a text message. Did it automatically go to Ryanair as well? I doubt it
@Amy Wallis: you don’t know had they symptoms or were they even a suspected case . They may have done a test as a precaution prior to travelling . I did, just for peace of mind I wasn’t going to infect anybody although I didn’t consider myself as a suspect case at all. admittedly I waited for the results.
Plus they were honest & responsible enough to advise the crew as they got the results just before take off while in the aircraft. They could have said nothing and just travelled.
@Isabel Oliveira: the point is that they got tested. What is the point of being tested if they don’t wait for the results? The reason for being tested honestly doesn’t matter; if they had symptoms, if they were contact traced or if it was due to work it all boils down to the fact that they may have been infected and thus should never have travelled before receiving the results.
Yes, good for them for telling the crew. But they never should have been on the plane in the first place and now people who were near or around them have to be tested because they could also be infected.
Why on earth was he travelling while waiting for the results?
The title of the article again?…”"taken”"off after he received a text”. Did u let everyone on board know about the text and then refused to get off??
@Thomas: doubt ryan aer staff read ppls messages ,the passenger told staff he was taken off by staff to minimize contact to public , probably taken via private areas only used by staff
@Anne Feerick: it appears they told nobody and it was the health department that contacted Ryanair about the passenger
@Craic_a_tower: This begs the question, how did the Health Department know he was on a Ryan Air flight? In an age when one departments computer system can’t communicate with another’s this is remarkable.
@Arch Angel: not a big question at all there was emergency legislation to make access legal on health grounds. Not difficult to do at all.
Imagine how big a pr**k you have to be to know your waiting on results and get on a plane with other people to go on holiday
@Craig Ruth: I wouldn’t assume that. They might have been health care workers. Completely agree that they should have waited for the result – no doubt they expected the result to be quicker, but totally wrong to go ahead as if they didn’t have Covid.
Who said was tested and awaiting test results? Perhaps got the txt from the tracing app?
And even if was tested, hi might have done for his own peace of mind, why should self isolate if he’s never been at risk (or thought of)?
@Proudly Italian: ridiculous comment
@Proudly Italian: So a txt from the tracing app will let you know of you’re positive? Will you educaye yourdelf? If that’s possible. You don’t get tested for “peace of mind”, you have to have symptoms before they will test you. Where have you been hiding the last 5 months?
@biggybald: *educate yourself
@biggybald: well infairness they are doing random tests in the UK. You could be driving to work and you could pass a test point on the road… and you get the results in 8 hours. The UK are winning the battle with the virus slowly, but doing better than Ireland by per 100k of the population.
@biggybald: anyone who tells someone else to “educate yourself” usually doesn’t have much education themselves. It’s not an argument
@Paul Buckley: highly doubtful
@Proudly Italian: peple who are tested are supposed to self isolate until test results are back. Simple.
@biggybald: educate yourdelf , wow
@Macca Attack: it could easily be a health worker that is routinely tested as part of his/her job!
We need to stop blaming people until all facts are known.
@Les Wynan: Thanks for that Les, much appreciated. Seems like I hit a raw nerve there with you.
@Adele Mullen: how about health workers that are regularly tested, should they be in constant self isolation???
We can’t assume that everyone gets tested because they have symptoms.
@Bryan Smyth: You’ll see I corrected the spelling mistake. But you’re still a comedian, bravo!
@biggybald: this was in the UK. Also you can get tested whenever you want there are loads of testing kits out there and private hospitals will do whatever you ask once you pay.
@biggybald: you don’t actually have to have symptoms could be randomly done as there health care as I was
@biggybald: I am very well educated, thanks you. Can you tell the same? Yes, the tracing app will let you know if you’ve been in contact with someone positive. And yes, people get tested randomly and/or willingly… if they all have to self isolate every time they get tested, we wouldn’t have nobody on the streets. And yes, I tested for my peace of mind, before going to Italy and meet my family for the summer.
Amy further questions? Possibly, intelligent ones.
I wonder if they were put in a garden shed!
Still waiting for a refund since April
@Ronan Lawler: i’m still waiting refund from ben dunne gyms
What a disgrace…should have been in isolation till test came back…should be arrested…endagering others
It’s stock dipped a bit this morning but is back to its opening price for the day 12.78.
Oh ffs..
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