Another Korean Air Flight Attendant Tests Positive for CovID19; Flew Same LAX Route

A second Korean Air flight attendant has tested positive for the novel coronavirus

The person was determined infected after serving on the same KE012 flight between Incheon and Los Angeles on February 19 and 20 as the first Korean Air flight attendant that had been diagnosed last week.

According to the company, the rest of the cabin crew that worked that route on those dates have tested negative. There are, however, 30 other flight attendants who have been quarantined as a precaution.

The first crewmember had also worked the Incheon-Tel Aviv route and may have contracted the virus from South Korean churchgoers who went on a pilgrimage to Israel and stayed in the country February 8 – 16. Of those 39 pilgrims who traveled as a group, 30 were subsequently found infected with CovID-19.

Korean Air crew are known to frequent Koreatown, as well the neighboring areas of Larchmont Village, Windsor Square, Hancock Park, Miracle Mile, Downtown LA, Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

Koreatown itself is home to a significant community of Korean retirees and senior citizens who find the district easier to navigate via DASH bus than the Orange County suburbs where their offspring live.

According to data released by Korea CDC, the virus afflicts most severely those above the age of fifty, while ordinarily healthy youngsters do not show any symptoms despite carrying the virus.

South Korea now has a total of over 6,000 confirmed cases of COVid-19 with over 40 deaths directly attributed to the virus. Cause of death is acute respiratory failure from pneumonia.

The United States has recorded 327 cases and 14 deaths.

Korean Air is South Korea’s largest airline by sales. It was serving 204 flights per week on 30 routes to China before the new coronavirus hit the airline industry. The numbers have dropped to 57 flights on 10 routes. It has suspended flights to China until April 25.

Late last week, the South Korean consulate in Los Angeles released a statement about the first flight attendant’s itinerary. She claims to NOT have visited Koreatown at all. During her layover in Los Angeles, she visited only two places, neither one of which was in or near Koreatown. Those two places have not been disclosed.