Jakarta, July 23, (dpa/GNA) – An Indonesian man has disguised himself as his wife so that he could board a domestic flight despite being positive for Covid-19, an official said on Friday.
The man used his wife’s identification and negative Covid-19 test certificate to be allowed to fly from Jakarta to Ternate, while wearing a full-face veil on Sunday, said Nandang Sukarna, general manager at Halim Perdanakusuma airport.
A flight attendant saw the man change clothes before leaving the aircraft and alerted airport authorities, he said.
“His intention was simply to use someone else’s negative PCR test so he could fly,” Nandang said, referring to the polymerase chain reaction test for the virus.
He later tested positive for Covid-19, according to local media reports.
Indonesia has imposed travel restrictions amid a rapid surge in coronavirus cases since last month, driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant.
As part of measures to curb the spread of Covid-19, airline passengers are required to produce proof of vaccination and a negative coronavirus test certificate before boarding.
The country recorded 1,449 virus-related deaths on Thursday, its worst single-day death toll, and nearly 50,000 new cases, taking the total number of confirmed infections to over 3 million.
Indonesia’s daily death toll has been consistently above 1,000 since July 16.
The explosion in Covid-19 cases has overwhelmed hospitals across the islands of Java and Bali in recent weeks.
GNA