“Stop Flying” A Flight Attendant With COVID-19 Shares a Viral Warning
Meg Butler March 31, 2020
A JetBlue flight attendant is sharing her struggle with COVID-19 on her Instagram page.
April, who has just under 10,000 followers on her Instagram page, is documenting her personal battle with the coronavirus. She contracted COVID-19 while flying for JetBlue despite being “young and healthy.” Now she’s warning other flight attendants to “stop flying. It’s not worth it.”
Contracting COVID-19
April began posting from her hospital bed in Florida on March 29th, a few days after she was hospitalized and diagnosed. Before her hospitalization, she was working aboard JetBlue flights “with hardly anyone on them” from March 11th to March 24th.
Her flights were mostly empty. When she left those flights, she “went nowhere except for my hotel room and home.” She first started feeling “very, very mild symptoms that I thought were allergies. It’s five days later, and I’ve been hospitalized with pneumonia. My chest hurts, it’s hard to breathe.”
Dear Young and Healthy
“Dear Young and Healthy,” begins a typed message on March 31st, “I seriously thought if I got COVID-19 I’m so young and healthy it would be a little flu. I’m tough I can handle a lil flu. THIS VIRUS IS NOTHING LIKE A FLU. I’M FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE PUBLICLY BECAUSE I’M PRAYING IT WILL HELP SAVE YOURS.”
April goes on to say that she is just 35 years old, and an athlete who is “super healthy with a strong immune system. I drink protein, green juice, ginger, and turmeric shots daily for years. I don’t have asthma. I don’t smoke.”
A Warning to Other Flight Attendants
“I’m asking all my flight attendant friends to stop flying. It’s not worth it. Forget your mortgage. Forget your bills. Stay home. If your government can’t protect you, then, don’t go to work. You’ll figure it out. It’s not worth it. Stop flying. I’m serious.
“I’m a fighter, I have a strong immune system, I’m going to be OK. I’m not trying to post this to scare anybody. I’m trying to post this to prevent my friends from being in the same place that I am. I love my job, I love what I do. But nothing’s worth your health.”
You can follow April’s story on her Instagram page where she shares stories daily. Her previous stories are archived in her highlights and labeled COVID-19.
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So, what is her condition today?
I wonder if we could've all "flattened" the curve faster by just stopping all flying altogether. A week of repatriation flights etc, then nothing, radio silence other than cargo. As a person who works in the airline business, that would be bad for me, but potentially better for the greater good. We've got airline employees asking where they should go domestically in the US because they're bored, or because it's mom's 50th. People can't be responsible enough to just stay in place as they've been asked. I really wonder if April had just had no travel if we'd be further ahead than we are now. I'm not blaming April for anything, she was asked to do a job, she continued to do it as prescribed by the management in her company and her country. We also have no idea where she got it, maybe flying was irrelevant, but the odds of catching anything while sheltering in place would surely be lower. Those same airline employees that are travelling around standby (I chose not to mention what airline or where I'm seeing those posts because I don't think it's right to single anyone out and I have no access to other airlines) are also encouraging people to get back in the air. I'm not a doctor, I don't know when it'll be ok to start travelling again, but I'm pretty sure it's too soon. We're not out of the woods, not by a long shot. Let's see sports get going again first, maybe that'll be an indication things are getting better. Let's get movie theatres open again, that'll be a decent indication. I will travel again, I hope sooner rather than later. But there's no reason to go anywhere right now, nothing is open. I also have no interest flying somewhere only to be put in a mandatory 2 week quarantine when I get there, OR be put in one when I get home.
Humans tend to touch their faces by instinct. I have seen people with masks touching their faces. She probably contracted the virus while being transported from the airport to the hotel or vice versa. So telling people not to fly is not a solution. Proper gear, masks and gloves and not touching ones face in public is a key step that should be adhered to.
A very welcome message, long overdue on Flyertalk.
I am glad that flyertalk finally got it. Too late though: we have seen several articles about "heroes" who proudly kept on travelling the world for fun, supported in the comments by some very strong (and unpolite) deniers. Flyertalk had the Italian example before its eyes. You could have switched your line to defending frequent flyer points and travellers' rights but no, better to dance on the titanic looking at the iceberg coming towards us. I hope something was learnt.