Orange County Coronavirus Patient Flown From Aruba To LAX: Report

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — A man believed to have contracted coronavirus while overseas was flown to Los Angeles on a private air ambulance, Thursday.

The man, 65, along with his wife who also tested positive for coronavirus, were on a flight from Aruba landed at Los Angeles International Airport at 11 a.m.

He was inside a hyperbaric chamber when the plane landed. As Coronavirus causes severe respiratory distress, the oxygen-rich hyperbaric chamber would be used for delivering treating serious infections,such as those caused by the coronavirus.

The air rescue staff onboard the plane wore biohazard protective gear during the transport of the patient, ABC7 reported.

The man was taken out of the plane inside the chamber, where a ground ambulance took him to the St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange, according to the station. His wife is in self isolation, and the man's condition is not known and more details were not immediately available.

The hospital was unable to disclose information regarding the patient as of this report.

"St. Joseph Hospital is committed to caring for our community as we all face the global health challenge of minimizing the impacts of COVID-19," a hospital spokesperson told Patch. "As this outbreak escalates, be assured we have plans in place to protect the safety of all our patients, visitors and, of course, our caregivers."

"We value the dignity of each and every one of our patients as we would our own loved ones," they said. The hospital says they remain committed to protecting the privacy of all our patients and will not acknowledge when we are treating COVID-19 patients.

Patch has reached out to the Emergency Operations Center, Orange County for more information and will update this report when that is received.

Don't miss local and statewide news about coronavirus developments and precautions. Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters.