A Hawaii couple is facing reckless endangerment charges for boarding a flight and traveling from San Francisco to Lihue after testing positive for COVID-19, police say.
Kaua’i police spokeswoman Coco Zickos said Wesley Moribe and Courtney Peterson both knowingly boarded a United Airlines flight, with their 4-year-old after testing positive for the virus, NBC reported. Zickos said officials at San Francisco International Airport told the couple to not travel and isolate.
The couple was arrested on second-degree reckless endangerment charges, and a family member took the child home, Zickos said, according to NBC.
A married couple who live on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i recently flew home from San Francisco despite both having tested positive for COVID-19, and they were promptly arrested and charged with endangering other passengers. https://t.co/zSnzFcrV3m
— SFist (@SFist) December 2, 2020
“They knowingly boarded a flight aware of their positive Covid-19 test results, placing the passengers of the flight in danger of death,” Zickos said.
Hawaii’s department of health is notified when someone tests positive for the virus and the couple was aware of their test results before boarding, according to spokesman for the Hawaii Covid-19 Joint Information Center, NBC reported. (RELATED: Denver Mayor Asks People To Forgive Decision ‘Borne Of My Heart’ After Ignoring His Own COVID-19 Guidelines)
“Rather than quarantining and contacting their health provider, they went on the plane,” the spokesman said.
Beginning Wednesday, all travelers to Kaua’i are required to quarantine for two weeks regardless of COVID-19 test results, according to the Kaua’i County health department.
There have been 18,266 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hawaii and 244 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.