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MEGAN TURCATO GLOBAL NEWS – Posted March 8, 2020

Air passengers on a domestic flight that landed at the Kamloops Airport Sunday afternoon were kept on board as paramedics were called to examine a passenger.

Airport manager Ed Ratuski said passengers were held on the plane on the tarmac for about 20 minutes while paramedics determined the nature of the passengers’ illness.

A social media user, who said they were aboard the Air Canada Express flight from Calgary to Kamloops, described two medics responding in hazmat suits.

Ratuski said keeping all passengers on board while a medical assessment is done follows an established protocol that pre-existed the current concerns about COVID-19.

In the end, the traveller was determined not to be seriously ill and Ratuski said they did not need to be transported by ambulance.

B.C. Emergency Health Services said the patient had a “routine illness” and didn’t have influenza symptoms.

After the tarmac delay, passengers were able to disembark.

In a short statement, the airline said “out of an abundance of caution, all passengers were questioned and subsequently released by EMS.”

Had the patient been seriously ill, Ratuski said the airport would have deferred the issue to the regional health authority and follow the instructions of health officials on how to proceed.

Ratuski said the airport took action to implement its protocol after being notified by the flight crew.

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