Woman on Diverted Flight Dies From COVID

A Texas woman with COVID-19 boarded a Spirit Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Dallas-Fort Worth but didn't make it to her destination alive, authorities say. Officials say the July 24 flight was diverted to Albuquerque after reports of an unresponsive woman. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, who disclosed details of the case while releasing the county's latest coronavirus figures, said the woman was given oxygen but died while the plane was on the jetway, NBC-DFW reports. County officials say the woman was a Garland resident in her 30s with "underlying high risk health conditions."

Based on the report of an unresponsive woman, "and the fact that there was no mention of COVID at the time of the diversion, we treated this as we would any other medical incident," Albuquerque airport spokeswoman Stephanie Kitts tells the Arizona Republic. Jenkins told WFAA on Sunday that the county had only been informed of the death a day or two earlier. The judge said it wasn't clear whether the woman knew that she had been infected. He added that the case should be a "reminder that there is no age restriction in COVID." (More coronavirus stories.)