I took my monthly precautionary Covid-19 test on Tuesday of this week (Nov 10) and got a positive diagnosis two days later (Nov 12). I had taken a UA flight on Nov 8, two days before the positive test. I immediately emailed UA with my flight information, seat number, etc., and received a response that said (paraphrasing--I have the full e-mail if anyone is curious about the precise response): "We're very sorry and hope you recover quickly. It is up to the CDC to contract trace." This struck me as odd because the CDC doesn't know my positive status (as far as I know) or my flight history. While I realize we are probably well beyond the point where contact tracing is effective, I would have thought that in this scenario, as a courtesy, UA would at least reach out to the passengers in the rows immediately around me and informed them of the possible exposure. I know I would have liked to know had I been one of these passengers. But UA seems to have washed its hands (no pun intended).

Btw, I am asymptomatic and feeling fine (knock on wood).

Businesses do not do contact tracing. I would say if they said the CDC does contact tracing then that would be a poorly worded email. It is up to local health authorities to do contact tracing - some do, some do not.

Whether they do or not, doesn't mean United can't send an email of the sort I suggested. I hope they at least informed their own employees who worked my flight.

First of all, I hope you continue to feel well and thank you for taking action to help others. I've seen reports of similar responses from other airlines when notified of positive cases. Yeah, that's why the airline industry's claims about risk deserve a LOT of skepticism -- the "1 in 27 million chance" for example comes from a claim of only 44 supposed cases transmitted on planes worldwide since February, which is clearly completely bogus and likely based on similar willful lack of contact tracing.

I'm not saying the airlines should be managing the whole contact tracing process themselves, but this far in there should should be a process where actual contact records exist (e.g. air travel vs say the local bus) to use them to proactively notify others who should get tested.

Businesses don't do contact tracing due to state and local laws regarding privacy. It is strictly a local health department process.

Everything one needs to know about contact tracing is located on the CDC website

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...orkplaces.html

Question in regards to the NY Quarantine advisement. I have to fly up to upstate NY next month to bring down my disabled brother to FL for him see our 96 yr old grandmother who is dying of cancer. It will be a 1 day up and back trip for me. Would I really be denied boarding on the flights back to FL given i didn't properly guaranine for 14 days?.

United isn’t going to enforce state by state quarantine requirements

Than who does the enforcements of all these advisements?

Again, as I read it, nothing on the CDC website precludes UA from e-mailing customers to inform them that a nearby passenger on their recent flight voluntarily disclosed a positive Covid-19 test.

The appropriate jurisdiction -- for domestic travel, UA does not get involved in deciding would can or can not travel.

UA can not release passengers information to another passenger due to a variety of privacy regulations unless directed by a appropriate governmental body.

Not really following the argument since the information would be anonymized and not about a specific passenger, and in any event the specific passenger in question here consented to the release (and even encouraged it), so I’m not sure who would be the person or entity with standing to complain about the privacy regulation.

Regardless, let me ask you this: based on your understanding of these privacy regulations, can UA inform its own employees who served the flight? Especially the FA who served my cabin? I would sure hope so.

Inserting myself into the conversation, I don't know of any US privacy regulation that would stop UA from doing such on a generic / anonymized basis (or any regulation anywhere, for that matter). But, while I would certainly hope UA could do better than a McD franchise, I have not heard of UA (or any US business) doing such tracing / notifying, wwhich is unsurprising given the CDC or whoever are not pushing for any such efforts. I suppose further commentary is out of scope.

In any event, I hope you continue to have an asymptomatic course!

There is no such rule, and UA could be doing its own contact tracing to the extent of alerting someone that they have been in proximity to someone who has tested positive so the person being alerted can take appropriate measures to get tested themselves or isolate if they see fit to do so. It doesn't mean I expect the name, email and phone of the person who was infected, but I certainly deserve to know if I was exposed, if this information is made available to, or known by United, or any business for that matter.

Absolutely not. Uh. False positives anyone. And plenty of those.

Can you imagine getting an email from an airline, any airline - that said - you were seating near a positive case.

Can you imagine the lawsuits. Uh - what is near? 3 rows. Were they next to me? Behind me? 3 rows over but other aisle?

That’s why no business will get into the business of contact tracing. That’s why it’s left to local health authorities

I think you are confusing “contract tracing” — which is indeed a government function involving trained persons tasked with identifying a positive individual’s full chain of close-contact exposures — and a business choosing (or not) which information to reveal to its customers.

“Dear Flyer:
United was recently informed by a passenger sitting within X rows of you on Flight x on Date x that s/he tested positive for Covid-19 within 7 days of your flight. United has no way of verifying the accuracy of this information. Please consult all applicable CDC and local regulations and guidelines [or whatever stock disclaimers UA thinks are appropriate].
Thank you for your continuing loyalty to United.”

It is hard for me to discern how this could be a basis for a lawsuit by anyone who did (or did not) receive such an email.

Anybody who can pay a filing fee can file a lawsuit. But anyone who did based upon such an email would in my opinion be a fool — as would his or her lawyer.

Incidentally, everyone with a view on this keeps ignoring (or refusing) to state or speculate whether UA informs its own crew about a self-reported positive test from a passenger, even as it evidently chooses not to inform other passengers.