An Indonesian man is reportedly facing arrest for boarding a flight disguised as his wife, in spite of testing positive for Covid-19. The man, who has only been identified by his initials, DW, wore a complete veil (recognized as a niqab) to cover his face and carried his wife’s passport and her unfavorable Covid test outcome to board the domestic flight, reports BBC. The disguise could have worked – but for the reality that he decided to modify his garments midway through the Citilink flight from Jakarta to Ternate on Sunday.
According to CNN, a flight attendant told police that she saw the man, nevertheless wearing the niqab to cover his face, go into an airplane bathroom and emerge a couple of minutes later in men’s clothes. She notified airport authorities in Ternate, and “DW” was arrested when the flight landed.
When an on-web site well being officer tested him for Covid-19 straight away just after the landing, he returned a positive test outcome. He has now been ordered to self-isolate, with police saying they will move to prosecute him as quickly as he recovers.
“The airport immediately contacted the Ternate City Covid-19 Handling Task Force team to evacuate the man while wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), and then taking him in an ambulance to his house (in Ternate City) to self-isolate, where he will be supervised by Task Force officers,” Ternate Covid-19 Task Force Operational Head Muhammad Arif Gani was quoted as saying by CNN.
This uncommon case comes amid strict travel restrictions in Indonesia as it battles its deadliest Covid wave but. The nation is recording nearly 50,000 circumstances a day, as the Delta variant of the coronavirus fuelled a surge in infections across the nation.