At least 50 cases of coronavirus linked to surgeon flying from New York City to LA

A 32-year-old nurse - among at least nine others - died from the coronavirus in April after a retired New York surgeon with the illness was admitted to a high end dementia care facility in Los Angeles. The nurse, Brittany Bruner-Ringo, died on 20 April. Since then, more information on the surgeon and the trail of infected individuals left in the wake of his travels have emerged. A month before Bruner-Ringo's death, the surgeon boarded an American Airlines flight in New York City bound for Los Angeles. Just before his flight, the man was discharged from a hospital that had seen a spike in coronavirus cases. The other 499 passengers on the flight were not informed by health officials that the former surgeon had previously been exposed to Covid-19. When he arrived in Los Angeles, he was taken to Silverado Beverly Place, a luxury dementia care facility, where Bruner-Ringo was employed. Employees at the facility said the surgeon was allowed to mingle and even eat with other individuals before his symptoms were identified. Bruner-Ringo warned at the time that the surgeon had a fever and a cough when he arrived. The facility denies that the nurse made those claims, while her family and friends claim she spoke with them about the man's symptoms following his arrival. The surgeon did recover from his bout, but the individuals who flew with him to Los Angeles were never notified that they may have been exposed.<br/>