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United Airlines has been asked to provide passenger information to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after a man who reportedly had coronavirus-like symptoms died shortly after travelling on one of its flights.
On Monday, a flight from Orlando, Florida, was diverted to New Orleans when a man experienced a medical emergency on board. According to the airline, the man was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Following the death, the CDC asked the airline to provide information regarding passengers and crew for contact tracing, United spokesperson Charles Hobart said.
The man’s wife was said to have been overheard telling an emergency medical technician that he had shown symptoms of the disease, including loss of taste and smell.
United stipulated that the agency did not specify the man’s cause of death, and United does not know whether it was Covid-19 related.
Prior to the flight, the man had filled out a form to say he had not tested positive for the disease or was experiencing symptoms of coronavirus.
“It is apparent the passenger wrongly acknowledged this requirement,” United said.
A woman who said on Twitter that she had overheard the man’s wife saying he had the virus did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press.
The CDC is collecting information to decide whether further public health action is appropriate, an agency spokesperson said.
“To protect the privacy of the individual, we aren’t providing this information to the public.”
The four flight attendants present on the plane quarantined for two weeks once they arrived in Los Angeles, “per written guidelines,” said Taylor Garland, spokesperson for Association of Flight Attendants.
“Our union continues to provide support to the crew,” Ms Garland said. “We urge passengers to comply with airline Covid policies and stay home if you’re sick.”
According to Mr Hobart, the airline was originally told that the man died from heart trouble and the passengers were given the option to stay on the plane or take a later flight and that all passengers stayed on the plane.
Reporting by the Associated Press
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