Officials have confirmed that a woman in her 30's died of COVID-19 onboard a flight in Texas. The unnamed woman died on July 25, but officials say they were only notified days ago that the death was COVID-19 related. The unnamed woman was a resident of Garland, Texas and it is unclear if she was aware that she had contracted the virus before boarding the interstate flight. Making matters worse, she had underlying health conditions that may have contributed to her death.
"[This is a] reminder that there is no age restriction in COVID," Judge Clay Jenkins said.
"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."
At this time, it is unclear if she was wearing a mask when she boarded the flight or if any other passengers contracted the virus afterward. Moreover, it is unclear what airline she was intending to fly with on that day.
This year, the state of Texas has experienced nearly 870,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and upwards of 17,000 COVID-19 related deaths. As winter and flu season nears, state officials have reported an uptick in COVID-19 related hospitalizations.
News of the unidentified woman's death comes just a week after the U.S. Department of Defense and American Airlines released a study in which they found that the risk of contracting COVID-19 while flying on an airplane is "virtually nonexistent" if all passengers wear masks. Their results were accompanied by an International Air Transport Association report that found just 44 confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to passengers. However, the 44 case figure does not include delayed positive COVID-19 cases like the one found in Texas.
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