Man With COVID-19 Disguises Himself As Wife To Board Plane; Stupid Error Gets Him Arrested

KEY POINTS

The man, identified as"DW," disguised himself as his wife in order to board a plane flight
He was caught when a flight attendant noticed he had come out of a lavatory with different clothing
Police said they intend to prosecute DW after his self-isolation period

A man in Indonesia who was confirmed COVID-19-positive could face charges after he was caught disguising himself as his wife in order to board a flight, officials said.

The man, publicly identified only by his initials "DW," boarded a flight operated by domestic carrier Citilink, which took off from the nation's capital of Jakarta and landed on the city of Ternate located in the province of North Maluku, CNN Indonesia reported.

DW wore a niqab — a full veil usually used by Muslim women to cover their faces — and carried fake IDs as well as a negative PCR test result during his Sunday attempt, a report by the Associated Press said.

A flight attendant aboard the plane, however, noticed DW had changed his clothes after he used the lavatory. The attendant then reported the switch to airport authorities, who detained DW upon disembarking from the aircraft.

The man, who reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the flight, allegedly intended to travel using his wife's ID and results as she had tested negative for the virus.

"He bought the plane ticket with his wife’s name and brought the identity card, the PCR test result and the vaccination card with his wife’s name. All documents are under his wife’s name," Ternate police chief Aditya Laksimada was quoted as saying by the AP after DW's arrest.

An on-site health officer immediately tested the man for COVID-19, and the PCR test result came back positive, officials said.

The airport then contacted Ternate's COVID-19 handling task force team, who — while wearing personal protective equipment — used an ambulance to take DW to his house in the city to self-isolate, Ternate COVID-19 task force operational head Muhammad Arif Gani said. He added that DW will be supervised by task force officers.

Local police have expressed their intent to prosecute DW once his self-isolation period is complete, according to the CNN report.

Data from Johns Hopkins University showed that Indonesia has recorded just over 3 million COVID-19 cases and around 79,000 deaths as of writing.

Citilink's parent company, Garuda Indonesia, restricted travel during the Eid al-Adha holiday, which is observed between July 19 and 25, only to essential personnel and people with urgent needs, as per CNN.