A couple in Hawaii are facing reckless endangerment charges after they boarded a flight with their four-year-old son even though they had tested positive for Covid-19.
Wesley Moribe and Courtney Peterson knew they had tested positive when they boarded a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Lihue, Coco Zickos, a spokeswoman for Kauai police, said, according to NBC News.
San Francisco airport officials had instructed them to isolate and not to travel, but the couple “knowingly boarded a flight aware of their positive Covid-19 test results, placing the passengers of the flight in danger of death”, Zickos said in a statement.
The couple were arrested on second-degree reckless endangerment charges shortly after their arrival at Lihue airport. A relative took their son home, and the couple posted bail. If convicted, they could face a $2,000 fine and up to a year in jail.
The incident came as the US continues to report more than 100,000 new coronavirus cases a day, and after experts warned that widespread Thanksgiving travel could fuel a further surge in coming weeks. More than 270,000 people have died in the US from Covid-19.
United Airlines states on its website that if a customer tests positive for Covid-19, they “won’t be able to fly at that time”, adding: “You will not be able to travel on United for at least 10 days after the date you tested positive and only after you have two successive negative Covid-19 results that were administered at least 24 hours apart.”
