EMT who treated dying United Airlines passenger finally notified of COVID-19 exposure 10 days later

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Well, that took a while.

The EMT who performed CPR on a man dying from COVID-19 for almost an hour on an airplane headed to Los Angeles said he was notified by his department of public health about his possible exposure to the infectious disease — a whole 10 days after the ordeal.

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For Tony Aldapa, 32, the news didn’t come as a surprise, since his story had made national headlines the week prior: he performed CPR for 45 minutes on a man who suffered a medical emergency midflight and it was later determined that the man had died of respiratory failure and COVID-19. Everyone who tried to help him had likely been exposed to the virus.

But Aldapa, who has since claimed that he was experiencing coronavirus-like symptoms, alleged on Twitter that it took 10 days for his local department of public health to contact him and warn of the possible exposure. He also claimed he hasn’t been contacted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) directly, although United Airlines has previously stated that the CDC would work with local health officials to conduct outreach.

Aldapa further claimed on Twitter that he knows of other passengers on the flight who "haven't heard from anyone at all" regarding exposure warnings.

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Fox News previously reported that United Airlines had provided the CDC with a passenger manifest after the incident occurred. At the time, a spokesperson for the airline told Fox News that the CDC would be working with local health officials to contact customers that the agency believed were possibly exposed to the virus.

Aldapa previously spoke with Fox News and explained that he had experienced coronavirus-like symptoms. Fortunately, he was tested and received multiple negative results for COVID-19.

"I woke up and I was extremely exhausted and every muscle in my body was sore," he said. "But I attributed that to performing CPR for almost an hour. I drank a lot of fluids, got some sleep and then Wednesday came around and I was still feeling a little bit of fatigue and some more body aches."

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Ann W. Schmidt contributed to this report.