Foiled bid: The man was arrested upon landing in Ternate and tested positive for Covid-19. — AP
AN Indonesian man with the coronavirus boarded a domestic flight disguised as his wife, wearing a niqab covering his face and carrying fake IDs and a negative PCR test result.
But the cover didn’t last long.
Police said a flight attendant aboard a Citilink plane traveling from Jakarta to Ternate in North Maluku province on Sunday noticed the man changing his clothes in the lavatory.
“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,” Ternate police chief Aditya Laksimada said after arresting the man upon landing.
He was only identified by his initials.
Police took him for a Covid-19 test, which came back positive.
The man is currently self-isolating at home and police said the investigation would continue.
Indonesia is in the grip of the worse coronavirus surge in Asia with 33,772 new confirmed cases and 1,383 deaths yesterday.
The total number of reported cases so far is 2.9 million with 77,583 fatalities.
Restrictions on non-essential travel, including a mandatory negative coronavirus test, and public gatherings have been toughened over the Aidiladha holiday. — AP
