COVID-positive Indonesian Man Boards Plane Disguised As His Wife In A Hijab; Arrested

On Wednesday, an Indonesian man with COVID-19 disguised himself as his wife to board a commercial flight and escape the authorities. Identified only as “DW," the man wore a ‘niqab’ or a black veil as he covered his face and produced his wife’s identification card. The accused attempted to board the Citilink flight from Jakarta to Ternate, with the fake negative PCR test result, the authorities in Indonesia said, according to multiple reports. However, he was busted. After a flight attendant on board the Citilink plane, the man was caught by the police found the man suspiciously changing his clothes in the lavatory of the plane bound for Jakarta to Ternate in North Maluku province.

Ternate police chief Aditya Laksimada reportedly stated that the said man had bought the plane ticket under his wife’s name and had attempted to make a journey on her behalf as he was infected with the novel coronavirus. The police chief added that the man carried the identity card, the PCR test result, and the vaccination card all under his wife’s name. He was immediately detained upon landing. All the documents retrieved by the law enforcement authorities were under his wife’s name. He had attempted to misguide the airport authorities as he travelled with the black veil.

The cops launched a probe into the matter, and the cross-dressed man was now self-isolating at home. He was taken into an ambulance after he returned a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. An officer who tested him mid-flight secured him with the personal protective gear (PPE) to avoid the transmission onboard the plane. The man was unvaccinated and he was forced to evacuate, Ternate COVID-19 Task Force operational head Muhammad Arif Gani told reporters. The police say that ‘DW’ will face prosecution once his mandatory isolation period terminates.

Indonesia has become the world’s COVID hotspot as it is now one of the worst-hit with 74,920 fatalities and a mounting case count nearing 3 million. There has been an acute oxygen shortage in several parts of the country witnessing the highly contagious delta variant surge, particularly Java, as the onslaught of cases has pushed the healthcare system to the brink of collapse. The devastating new wave of coronavirus has pushed the government to tighten the health safety measures and impose restrictions such as a ban on large gatherings and air travel.