Officials confirmed Sunday that a woman in her 30s died of the coronavirus while aboard an airplane awaiting takeoff in July, according to BuzzFeed News.
The unidentified woman was having trouble breathing and was given oxygen before she died, according to NBC 5 Dallas–Fort Worth. It’s unclear if the Garland, Texas, resident was aware she was infected with the virus before boarding the aircraft, which was heading from Arizona to Texas. She did have underlying high-risk health conditions, according to release from Dallas County.
Although the incident occurred three months ago, the Texas county wasn’t alerted that COVID-19 was the cause of death until a few days ago, Judge Clay Jenkins said Sunday.
“I would strongly encourage people to not think they’re invincible from COVID because they don’t think they’re in a high-risk category,” Jenkins said.
It’s unclear which Arizona airport or airline was involved in the incident.
Several coronavirus regulations have been put in place to safeguard air travel during the pandemic, including temperature screens and at some airports, COVID-19 testing.