An Indonesian man concealed himself under the cover of his burqa so he could board a plane despite testing positive for coronavirus, reports said.
The man, identified by his initials "DW," used faked IDs and his wife's negative PCR test result to pass security checkpoints and board a Citilink flight from Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusuma Airport to return to his hometown of Ternate, Maluku, officials said.
Police said a flight attendant aboard the Citilink plane noticed the man change clothes in the toilet, then come out wearing men's clothes.
The flight attendant notified airport authorities in Ternate, who detained the passenger upon disembarking from the plane, CNN reported.
Police took the man for a test, which came back positive. He is currently self-isolating at home and authorities said the investigation will continue.
"He was transported on an ambulance for self-isolation at home, and he'll be under the supervision of task force officers," Ternate Covid-19 Task Force chief Muhammad Arif Gani said in quotes by Coconuts Jakarta News.
Once the man's self-isolation period is complete, local police have said they intend to prosecute him.
Indonesia is in the grip of the devastating coronavirus surge with 33,772 new infections and 1,383 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The country's total tally of reported cases is nearing the 3 million mark, with 77,583 deaths, The Associated Press said.
On top of this, vaccine distribution in Indonesia has been slow, with only around 6% of the total population fully immunized so far, reports said.
Meanwhile, Garuda Indonesia, which is Citilink's parent company, has restricted travel during the Eid al-Adha holiday to front-line health workers and people with urgent needs only.
