Airlines Trace Movements of Couple With Coronavirus

Husband and wife have been hospitalized back home after trip to Hawaii
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 17, 2020 5:30 PM CST
Airlines Try to Figure Who Had Contact With Infected Couple
Two people who have tested positive for the coronavirus flew Hawaiian Airlines, as well as Delta.   (AP Photo/Oskar Garcia, File)

Two airlines and health officials are trying to piece together the movements of a couple from Japan who came down with the coronavirus after a trip to Hawaii. The couple, who are in their 60s, arrived in Hawaii on Jan. 28, USA Today reports. The husband and wife flew Hawaiian Airlines within Hawaii, then took a Delta flight to Nagoya on Feb 7. Speaking of the husband, who tested positive first, a state epidemiologist said, "Our focus at this point is to try and understand who potentially this person may have had close, prolonged contact." The current theory, based on the incubation period of the virus, is that the husband became infected before he left Japan or on the flight to Hawaii. He wore a mask on the flight back to Japan, per the Hill.

Delta Air Lines said it has informed crew members and agents who worked the flight, and is contacting passengers as health officials advise. The airlines are working with the CDC as well as state health officials. The hotel where the couple was staying when the man showed symptoms, the Grand Waikikian on Oahu, has stayed open. The couple has been hospitalized in Japan. (A cruise ship passenger cleared of having the virus and allowed to leave shouldn't have been.)

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