August 3, 2020

In-Flight Transmission Cluster of COVID-19: A Retrospective Case Series

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Transmission

• Yang et al. described a case series of 12 people who likely acquired SARS-CoV-2 on a 5-hour flight carrying 325 passengers and crew members. All passengers and crew were asymptomatic and without fever at the time of boarding. A single passenger was found to be febrile on arrival in China and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Consequently, all passengers and crew were quarantined and monitored for 14 days. Eleven additional passengers subsequently tested positive for SARS-CoV-2; no crew were infected. Seat assignment was not described. The median age of cases was 33 years; 70% were female. The median incubation period (from flight to symptom onset) was 3 days. No patients were admitted to the intensive care unit, and no patients died in the initial month of observation.  

Yang et al. (July 31, 2020). In-Flight Transmission Cluster of COVID-19: A Retrospective Case Series. Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1080/23744235.2020.1800814