CLEVELAND — The Transportation Security Administration said that it will be pursing civil action after a woman at Hopkins International Airport handed an agent her travel documents and then told the person that she had just licked her hand and she had coronavirus.
The incident happened March 15 at a checkpoint inside the airport. Cleveland police and an airport firefighter responded to the scene.
According to the TSA agent, the passenger handed over travel documents and said it was a good thing the agent was wearing gloves and then stated: “I just licked my fingers and I have coronavirus.”
The woman later denied she made the statement. TSA officials said they determined that the woman made a false claim and that she wasn’t carrying the virus.
Following the incident, the airline denied the woman permission to fly, the TSA stated.
The checkpoint was closed down for around 20 minutes and sanitized as a precaution, the TSA said.
The agency said it reserves the right to issue a civil citation to individuals who interfere with security screening operations and plans to do so against the woman.
