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A Man With Covid Disguised Himself As His Wife To Board A Plane

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It worked for Dustin Hoffman in “Tootsie,” and it helped Bugs Bunny outsmart Elmer Fudd on numerous occasions. But an Indonesian man who dressed in his wife’s niqab — a veil that covers all of the face except for the eyes — now faces arrest for attempting to evade Covid protocols by disguising himself as a woman, CNN Indonesia reported.

The man, who was identified by authorities only as “DW,” had tested positive for Covid-19. He then disguised himself as his wife and used her identification and negative PCR test to board a domestic Citilink flight from Jakarta to Ternate. Citilink is a low-cost carrier operated by Garuda Indonesia, the country’s largest airline.

Perhaps the most remarkable part of the caper is that the man almost got away with it. After fooling airport and airline authorities at Jakarta’s Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport, the man made a crucial error mid-flight, when he entered the aircraft lavatory in women’s clothing and exited in men’s attire. An observant flight attendant noticed the unusual transformation and notified authorities on the ground, who were waiting in Ternate to apprehend the passenger when he got off the plane.

Like many places around the world, Indonesia is seeing an uptick in Covid-19 cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently has Indonesia under a Level 4 travel health notice, which signifies a “very high” level of Covid-19 and an “avoid travel” advisory.

Attempts to deceive airline authorities with disguises are rare but not unheard of. Last month, a viral TikTok video shows how a woman successfully got around an extra carry-on baggage fee by pretending to be pregnant.

And in 2010, a young Chinese man disguised as an elderly white male was caught on a flight from Hong Kong to Canada after emerging from the plane’s lavatory mid-flight without his silicone mask, according to reports.

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