Passenger on TigerAir told to “be more hygienic” and "go about her business".

Teen's chilling Instagram 
discovery after Tigerair 
flight with coronavirus victim

Yahoo.com,

31 January, 2020

A passenger who was on board the Tigerair flight with a man infected by the coronavirus says 
she is yet to be contacted by health officials, and found out she could be at risk through friends 
on Instagram.

International student Manuela, who is studying English on the Gold Coast, was one of 172 
passengers on Monday’s potentially infected Tigerair flight TT566 from Melbourne to the Gold 
Coast.

The 18-year-old phoned Queensland Health immediately after realising she was on the flight in 
question.

Despite warnings explaining a possible two-week incubation for people exposed to the 
infection the student said the health department simply advised her to “be more hygienic” and 
go about her business.

“I was concerned because I’ve been reading things about how big of an issue this is, and how 
authorities are worrying about people that were on the plane,” she told Yahoo News Australia

Assured she poses no risk to the public

Manuela decided she would take herself to the hospital anyway, given widely shared public 

information encouraging anyone who had come in contact with the virus to seek urgent medical attention.

“They gave me an evaluation and I stayed there for three hours while they did testing. They said 
I was fine and that I could go home.”

She asked several times if it was safe for her to continue attending classes, and was assured that 

she posed no risk to the public and would be fine going back to her daily life.

“I was thinking it’s possible I didn’t have symptoms because of the incubation period, and if I go to 

school I’m worried I could infect other people. I think it’s a bit irresponsible.”

Opting to self-isolate

The teenager has decided to remain in self-isolation for at least 10 days to ensure the risk of passing 

the infection on is minimised.

“I’m still waiting on some advice on what to do,” she said.

“When I found out I was on the flight, I was thinking they would put me in quarantine. So I thought 

when I got to the hospital they would isolate me for at least 15 days. I was really worried.

“They were taking things very lightly, especially because it’s a big world-wide issue. They treated me 

like it was a normal thing.”

She said when she first arrived, doctors entered her room donned in complete protective-wear, but 

after checking her for symptoms they removed it all.

Testing involved a check of her blood pressure, breathing and fever – all of which returned a clear 

result.

“They just told me if I started to feel bad to call the number again or go back to the hospital.”

‘No one contacted me’

Manuela fears there may be some passengers from the same flight who may not know about the risk 

and may not have been checked yet.

“No one contacted me so I assume they also didn’t contact anyone else on the flight,” she said.

Maggie Raworth, a 9News reporter, was also on the flight and told Today that she too was unsure of 

what action to take amid a lack of communication from Queensland Health.