Three Delta Passengers Test Positive for Covid-19

Three passengers on a Delta Connection flight have tested positive for Covid-19. Flight 4815 left Atlanta (ATL) on Monday, July 6th for Albany, New York (ALB).

Passengers Had No Symptoms

According to CNN, none of the passengers were symptomatic during their travels. They only began showing symptoms the following day. All three passengers are from Troy, in New York State’s Rensselaer County. We don’t know if the two 22-year-old women and one 27-year-old man were traveling together.

County Issues Health Alert

The Rensselaer County Health Department confirmed the positive tests on Friday. Officials then issued a health alert, asking anyone who was on Delta Flight 4815 to contact their local health department. In a statement to CNN, Delta says the airline is in contact with the CDC and local health officials.

A Test: HEPA Air Filters and Masks

The passengers were on a Delta Connection flight, operated by wholly-owned subsidiary Endeavor Air. The CRJ-900 regional jet, like all Delta aircraft, is equipped with high-efficiency HEPA air filters, These hospital-grade filters capture 99.9% of airborne particles and viruses, including the coronavirus.

Cabin air quality is typically better than at most offices, or at the grocery store. Those HEPA filters, combined with face covering rules, have given me confidence in the safety of air travel during this pandemic. There is always a calculated risk in these decisions, but it has so far appeared minimal.

That said, these three cases on a single flight could serve as an informal test of the effectiveness of HEPA filters and face coverings in combination. Covid-19’s incubation period is roughly 2-14 days, with symptoms most often appearing within 4-6 days. Assuming those numbers are accurate, the three infected passengers likely did not catch the virus on the plane.

We can learn a bit more about the virus’ spread by testing the other passengers on the plane. Health agencies are contacting those passengers, and we hope most agree to be tested. Negative tests could go a long way toward making the airline industry’s case that their planes are safe.

Not All Planes Have HEPA Filters

While HEPA filters are fantastic, they may not necessarily be used on your flight. For instance, American Airlines notes on its website that there “currently isn’t a government-approved HEPA solution for the Embraer E140 and E145 aircraft.” These planes, along with the slightly smaller E135, are regional jets that typically seat 37-48 passengers. They typically serve airports, connecting passengers to larger hub cities.

But all Airbus and Boeing aircraft utilize HEPA filters, as do the larger CRJ and Embraer E-Jet models. The vast majority of commercial jets flying U.S. airspace today offer HEPA filters.

Of course, no air filter is effective when it gets old and dirty. But Delta says they are changing out their HEPA air filters twice as much as the guidelines suggest.

What About NY’s Quarantine?

It’s a bit off topic, but I had to wonder: Were passengers on that flight required to quarantine upon arrival in New York’s Capital Region? State regulations currently require people arriving from Georgia to self-isolate for two weeks.

The short answer is: no! While New York requires people coming in from Georgia to self-quarantine, they make an exception for people who are in one of the impacted states for less than 24 hours. So if you connect through Atlanta-Hartsfield, no worries.

We don’t know where the three unfortunate people who caught the virus had been. We don’t know if they’d been in one of the states on New York’s quarantine list. Thus, we don’t know if they had been required to quarantine regardless. Of course, now they’ll have to quarantine until they are healthy once again.

Final Thoughts

I’m getting a bit anxious even thinking about sick passengers on my flight. And now, we learn that three Delta passengers have tested positive for Covid-19. I’m so glad the airlines are getting more serious about their face coverings policies. I’m glad they have started to clean their aircraft more thoroughly. And I’ve learned a lot about HEPA air filters.

I’d never thought much about air filers before. My wife usually reminds me to change the filter on our AC unit. Not anymore. I’ve started buying the best filters I can find. And while I’m thinking of it, time to change them now.

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Photo: CRJ-900 by Alan Wilson at Wikimedia Commons