Coronavirus hoax forces Jamaica-bound jet carrying 243 back to airport, airline says

Two hours into a flight from Toronto to Jamaica, a passenger suddenly stood up to announce he’d recently been to China and had contracted coronavirus there, CBC reported.

The 29-year-old Thornhill, Canada, man did not have the virus, but the WestJet plane carrying 243 passengers had to return to Toronto on Monday because of infectious disease protocols, CTV News reported.

Passenger Julie-Anne Broderick says she saw the man taking a selfie before the crew gave him a mask and gloves, CBC reported. They isolated him in the back of the plane.

“I guess this guy thought it was a funny joke but it’s just really weird,” she said, according to the network. “We were all very frustrated, to just displace 240 people … It’s just so selfish. We’ve lost a day of our vacation.”

Arrested upon the jet’s return to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport just after 2 p.m. Eastern, the man faces mischief charges, News 1130 reported. The plane had departed at 10 a.m.

The other passengers aboard were bumped to a Tuesday morning flight to Montego Bay, Jamaica, CTV News reported.

The man who made the “unfounded” claim, according to WestJet, has a March 9 court date, News 1130 reported.

The airline apologized to passengers for “this unfortunate situation,” according to the station.

Chinese authorities say that 361 people have died from coronavirus in mainland China, according to The Guardian. The number of cases diagnosed worldwide has passed 17,200.

The World Health Organization officially declared coronavirus a “public health emergency of international concern” on Jan. 30.

The U.S. has 11 confirmed cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

World experts also agree that coronavirus likely will become a pandemic, which is an epidemic that spans two or more continents, according to The New York Times.

“It’s very, very transmissible, and it almost certainly is going to be a pandemic,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, told the newspaper.

This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 9:27 AM with the headline "Coronavirus hoax forces Jamaica-bound jet carrying 243 back to airport, airline says."