A woman likely contracted COVID-19 by taking her mask off in an airplane bathroom in March, researchers concluded in a study slated for publication in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The study followed 310 people who took an 11-hour evacuation flight from Italy to South Korea March 31. Passengers were screened for symptoms before the flight, kept 6 feet apart during boarding and given N95 masks to wear on the plane.
All passengers quarantined for two weeks after the flight. On the first day of quarantine, six passengers tested positive for COVID-19 and all had asymptomatic cases. A 28-year-old woman developed a cough, runny nose and sore muscles on day eight and tested positive on day 14.
"Given that she did not go outside and had self-quarantined for three weeks alone at her home in Italy before the flight and did not use public transportation to get to the airport, it is highly likely that her infection was transmitted in the flight via indirect contact with an asymptomatic patient," the researchers said.
The "most plausible explanation" is that the woman contracted the virus by taking her mask off in the plane's restroom, which an asymptomatic passenger had used earlier in the flight.
Although the study includes a small sample size, it is among the first to examine asymptomatic transmission on planes, reports The Washington Post.
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