Date: 202011
Local time of day: 1201-1800
Location: ZZZZ.Airport, FO
Flight conditions: VMC
Aircraft: Commercial Fixed Wing
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Parked
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Captain; Pilot Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument
Human factors: Workload; Communication Breakdown; Distraction; Situational Awareness
Anomaly: Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Detector: Person Flight Attendant
When detected: Aircraft In Service At Gate
Result: General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Contributing factors: Airport; Environment - Non Weather Related; Procedure; Human Factors
Primary problem: Ambiguous

Narrative: My crew and I boarded the flight in ZZZZ bound for ZZZ.  While we were in engaged in pre-flight duties in the cockpit; our in-flight crew boarded sometime after us.  While my flying FO and I were in our seats; the A Flight Attendant came to the cockpit door to inform us of what he has just been told by ZZZZ customer service reps.  He proceeded to tell us that XX passengers on their inbound flight the previous night; tested positive upon arrival in ZZZZ for COVID-19 and that at least a couple have already been admitted to the hospital for their symptoms.  This conversation took place just before the boarding of passengers was about to begin.  We decided to halt any boarding of passengers and asked the A FA and the rest of the inflight crew to stand back and remain clear the area around the cockpit and await a briefing after we spoke with the company.I preceded to conference in our Dispatcher and Duty Pilot on a Satcom call from the cockpit.  While we discussed our options; the A FA was on a phone call with his in-flight duty manager.  After much discussion with the Duty Officer and my crew; we decided that our risk of exposure was low.  We all agreed that we would be able to operate flight to ZZZ with our inflight crew and two deadheads with the restriction of them remaining out of the forward part of the airplane during the flight.Here are some highlights of things that we learned during this process.  1. A message was sent to our company security by ZZZZ station operations.  2. This message triggered a zero response to ZZZZ station; inflight and flight operations.  3. A group of COVID positive passengers were able to board a company flight.  4. If ZZZZ customer service had not mentioned to our inflight crew what had happened to their inbound flight; we would potentially have had a bigger problem.I also want to highlight that once the problem was discovered; ZZZZ station; Inflight; Duty Officer; Dispatch; and the Cockpit was able to formulate a plan to keep safety first; take care of our passengers; and get our inflight crew and aircraft home safely.




Synopsis: Air carrier Captain reported that the cabin crew for the flight had been on an earlier flight that had passengers who had tested positive for COVID-19. Due to low exposure risk; it was decided the cabin crew could work the current flight.