Plane passenger spots someone texting a friend: ‘We have Covid ... shhh’

A plane passenger says they saw someone else on board who texted a contact: “We have Covid ... shhhh.”

The apparent admission that she’d ignored public health warnings and boarded a packed plane clearly worried the person in question, who posted the image to Reddit’s ‘Trashy’ section with the question: “Is this legal?”

In the image, an older woman with grey hair can be seen composing a response to a friend’s text.

The message is partially obscured but the visible words read: “We have Covid... shhh. That’s why we’re coming home a day early. On the plane.”

Some people chimed in to say they thought it was fake, while others said they often would type bizarre messages if they realized someone was looking at their phone and invading their privacy.

“To be fair, on the subway once I clearly saw the girl next to me reading my texts so I typed out something deranged just to get her to move away from me,” one wrote.

Another added: “Plot twist: she only typed that because she knows the asshole behind her is reading her messages.”

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Others said that if it was legit, then the person who took the photo was being creepy.

One person wrote: “Why are you reading other peoples text messages like it’s your business? You don’t even know if they’re joking or not. You are just being a creep, I hate people like you.”

But someone else got involved to say that, sadly, it was a very likely occurrence.

Sharing their own experience, they said: “I wouldn’t doubt it’s real - my aunt and uncle were visiting for Christmas and one of my other visiting uncles got Covid.

“My aunt starting breaking down and worrying if she got COVID, she wouldn’t be able to fly home for 10+ days. So with the knowledge of being exposed to someone that tested positive, she cancelled her test, then re-booked her flight to the night of Christmas and flew home.

“Basically she didn’t want to take the test just in case in was positive and she got stuck with us for a few extra days (the horror...). So she decided to get on a plane, fully knowing she was exposed, but basically plead ignorance since she hadn’t taken a test.”