Couple arrested after flight to Hawaii despite positive COVID-19 test in northwest



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HONOLULU – A couple have been arrested at an airport in Hawaii after traveling from the Americas knowing they were infected with COVID-19, authorities said.

Wesley Moribe, 41, and Courtney Peterson, 46, boarded a United Airlines flight to Lihue with a 4-year-old after testing positive for coronavirus as they returned home from international travel and transited between Seattle, San Francisco and Hawaii, Kauai. Said the police department.

The couple took a COVID-19 test in Seattle after returning from overseas, police said, then received their positive results on a flight from Seattle to San Francisco.

“The Seattle test returned positive, but the couple were already on their way to San Francisco,” a Kauai Police spokeswoman said in an email to The Associated Press. “Officials notified the couple of positive test results and ordered them to self-isolate.”

But the couple, who had a stopover in San Francisco, decided to continue to Hawaii this weekend.

Police said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified local authorities and upon their arrival in Lihue, Moribe and Peterson were greeted by officials from the Kauai Department of Health and Police. They were taken to a designated isolation room where they were arrested on suspicion of reckless second degree endangerment.

Doug Yakel, a spokesperson for San Francisco International Airport, said officials at the airport quarantine station had no contact with the couple and had not been tested there.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport spokesperson Perry Cooper said the airport has a supplier, Discovery Health MD, which leases space at the airport for testing and the company is working with the local public health and CDC for testing processes. The airport was not involved, he said.

The calls to CDC and Discovery Health MD were not immediately referred.

United said in a statement that all passengers must complete a checklist confirming that they have not tested positive for COVID-19 within 14 days before the flight. The two have been banned from traveling with United Airlines, the statement said.

Moribe and Peterson, who are residents of Wailua on the island of Kauai, were released after posting bail of $ 1,000 each.

The child was placed in the care of a relative and the Child Protection Services Division of the State Department of Social Services was notified.

“They knowingly boarded a flight with knowledge of their positive COVID-19 test results, putting the passengers on the flight at risk of death,” Kauai police said.

Peterson did not immediately return the voicemail messages Thursday to request comment. A phone number associated with Moribe had been disconnected.

Democratic Gov. David Ige last week approved Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami’s request to temporarily allow the island to opt out of the state’s pre-trip testing program after an increase in travel-related infections on the island. As of Wednesday, all travelers to Kauai must spend 14 days in quarantine whether or not they test negative for COVID-19.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, which go away within two to three weeks. For some – especially the elderly and people with existing health problems – it can lead to more serious illnesses, including pneumonia and death.

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