An Indonesian man has been caught pretending to be his wife in order to board a flight while infected with COVID-19.
The man, who otherwise would not have been permitted to fly, boarded a domestic flight using his wife’s ID and negative PCR test, concealing his identity by wearing a niqab, according to CNN Indonesia.
The man, who has been identified by local media by his initials, ‘DW’, reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. However, his wife had not.
Wearing the disguise, DW boarded a Citilink flight from Jakarta to Ternate.
It appears he may have gotten away with it if he had not opted to change back into masculine clothing midflight.
Of course, a flight attendant noticed his sudden gender swap and told authorities in Ternate where he was detained upon landing.
The head of Ternate’s COVID-19 Task Force, Muhammad Arif Gani, told local media that DW was immediately tested for COVID-19 and returned a positive result.
Gani said DW was evacuated to his house in Ternate via ambulance, where he will be supervised by Task Force Officers while he self-isolates.
Police have indicated that the man will be prosecuted once his self-isolation period is complete.
Indonesia has been experiencing rapidly growing case numbers, with numbers of COVID-19 diagnoses reaching nearly three million as of 21 July and almost 75,000 deaths.
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