Orlando TSA employee with coronavirus talks symptoms, testing and how she got sick

ORLANDO, Fla. - A TSA employee who works at OIA says she’s tested positive for the coronavirus.

Andrea Silas believes she likely got the virus on the job, since she’s in contact with so many people from around the world.

“It started out with me coughing. The coughing was no big deal,” Silas said of her symptoms. “Later on I started getting really crazy head fog, headache, dizziness and I started feeling weak. It just kind of hit like a freight train.”

The Transportation Security Officer says she last worked at the airport Tuesday. She says she started feeling sick Thursday night. Friday, she went in for a coronavirus test.

“I kind of had to fight with them a bit too… they didn’t want to waste a test on me at first. I had to explain to them that I’m in contact with all the people from all the countries, those countries are of concern,” Silas said in the phone interview with FOX 35.

Saturday, she says she learned she had both strep throat and COVID19. Now, she’s in quarantine.

When asked if she feels like it was a matter of time before a TSA worker got sick, Silas responded, “I mean, yeah.”

“With what I do, people will cough in your face and not even care about it,” she said.

Silas says the Florida Health Department has been tracking down people she was in direct contact with so they can self-isolate. The TSA ordering some of her colleagues to stay home for two weeks.

We asked airport officials about passengers.

“That investigation is ongoing with the TSA,” said OIA Exec. Dir. Phil Brown. “What we’ve done is increase the cleaning at all the check points as well as on employee buses and areas to minimize that. There’s been no information provided to us about the origin of the contagion for the TSA officer.”

Silas says she will be quarantined until March 25th.

She says to her knowledge, no one she had direct contact with has tested positive.