When COVID +ive man boarded a flight disguised as his wife

An Indonesian man was arrested for disguising himself as his wife to board a flight. The disguise was meant to enable him to take the flight even though he had reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. Using his wife’s ID and COVID negative report and donning her niqab -veil covering the face- the man boarded the Citilink flight at Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport in Jakarta, says CNN Indonesia.

The man, identified as DW, was caught when he entered the plane’s bathroom dressed as a woman and emerged as a man. An air hostess noticed this and notified airport authorities in Ternate, who detained the passenger upon deboarding.

He was again tested for COVID and the report was positive. After that, the officials contacted the City Covid-19 Handling Task Force team, who evacuated the man while wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).

Also read: Ivermectin milk natural remedies, Indonesia’s COVID cures

He was then taken in an ambulance to his house (in Ternate City) to self-isolate, where he will be under supervision for some time, COVID-19 Task Force Operational Head Muhammad Arif Gani told reporters, according to the reporty.

But that doesn’t mean he will be let off. The local police have plans to prosecute ‘DW’ once his self-isolation period is over.

Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world,  is currently Asia’s hotspot for COVID-19 with many confirmed cases of the deadly Delta variant. As of July 21, Indonesia has reported nearly three million cases with 74,920 deaths.

As the Delta variant rages through the country, Indonesia last week surpassed India and Brazil to become the nation reporting the world’s highest number of daily cases. On Thursday, the country reported more than 49,500 new cases and 1,449 deaths.

Airlines all over the world have made it mandatory for passengers to produce a negative RT-PCR report before boarding a flight. The test needs to be done no more than 3 days before the scheduled flight.