HONOLULU — A couple were arrested at a Hawaii airport after traveling from the U.S. mainland despite knowing they were infected with COVID-19, authorities said.
Wesley Moribe, 41, and Courtney Peterson, 46, boarded a United Airlines flight to Lihue with a 4-year-old child after testing positive for the coronavirus while returning home from international travel and transiting between Seattle, San Francisco and Hawaii, the Kauai Police Department said.
The couple took a COVID-19 test in Seattle after returning from abroad, police said, then received their positive results while flying between Seattle and San Francisco.
“They knowingly boarded a flight aware of their positive COVID-19 test results, placing the passengers of the flight in danger of death,” Kauai police said.
According to police, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified local authorities and upon arrival in Lihue, Moribe and Peterson were met by officials from the Department of Health and Kauai police. They were taken to a designated isolation room, where they were arrested on suspicion of second-degree reckless endangering.
Doug Yakel, a spokesman for San Francisco International Airport, said officials at the airport’s quarantine station had no contact with the couple and they did not get tested there.
United said in a statement that all passengers must complete a checklist confirming they have not tested positive for COVID-19 within 14 days before flying. Moribe and Peterson have been banned from traveling with United Airlines, the statement said.
Moribe and Peterson, who are residents of Wailua on Kauai, were released after posting $1,000 bail each.
The child was released into the care of a family member and the Child Protective Services division of the state Department of Human Services was notified.