Maine health officials sent out a stark warning to anyone who recently visited the Portland International Jetport: You may have been exposed to COVID-19.
- The Press Herald reports that someone who had COVID-19 and their close contact boarded a flight to Florida. The pair had to be removed from the flight.
- The pair went to the airport on Sunday even though they had been told to isolate due COVID-19 restrictions.
Robert Long, Maine CDC spokesman, explained what happened in a statement to the Press Herald.
- “The individual with COVID-19 tested positive late last week and was directed to isolate.” “This individual’s close contacts were also directed to quarantine.
- “Maine CDC staff became aware Sunday that the individual and one close contact intended to fly to Florida. Maine CDC staff communicated with the individual with COVID-19, who subsequently chose not to board the aircraft. The close contact of that individual was removed from a plane before takeoff and has not been confirmed to have COVID-19.”
Experts said anyone who visited the airport from 12:30 to 4 p.m. to monitor symptoms and talk with their physicians about testing possibilities, according to The Press Herald.
More troubles in Maine
A wedding in Maine made national headlines over the last few weeks after it had been linked to seven deaths and 176 cases of COVID-19, as I wrote about for Deseret.com.
- The seven dead people did not attend the wedding.
- Experts said the wedding is a case of community spread.
- “People don’t think of it in the same way as the (President) Trump rally in Tulsa, a bunch of people on the beach or in the bars, but these small events add up to a lot. It’s just invisible,” Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine at the University of California-San Francisco, told USA Today.