Man Dons Burqa To Avoid Airport Security And Covid-19 Screening

Usually when we talk about fake Covid-19 tests for travel it’s buying a forged test (sometimes to save money on testing), or just going in search of a negative test. Some resorts in Mexico, Caribbean, and Latin America return test results – seemingly always negative – instantaneously, making one wonder whether any testing is really being done.

However in Indonesia one man took fake Covid tests for travel to a new level when he donned a burqa to impersonate his wife, who tested negative.

The man proceeded through East Jakarta’s Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport security dressed as his wife – nearly his whole face covered by the burqa – and boarded a Citilink flight to Ternate airport 1500 miles to the Northeast. Presumably departing from the low cost airport, rather than Soekarno–Hatta International Airport, attracts less scrutiny.

However during the flight he changed clothes in the lavatory and a flight attendant noticed his sex change. They flagged this, and he was arrested on arrival. The man was given a Covid-19 antigen nasal swab test and tested positive for the virus.

“After the positive results of Covid-19, the airport immediately contacted the Ternate City Covid-19 Handling Task Force team, to evacuate by wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), then taken by ambulance to the house to self-isolate and will be supervised by Task Force officers ,” he said.

The passenger is being required to self-isolate at home, and officials insist they will “step up security screening efforts” because both airport security and Covid-19 screening could be fooled by drawing on the plot from Bosom Buddies.

(HT: Tommy L)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Now that’s funny (particularly the mid-flight clothing change), although you’re treading in dangerous waters, Gary. One cannot assume that simply because a person is wearing a burqa that they are or are not female or male — regardless of their biology. Although one impersonating one’s spouse is a different matter altogether.

    On a related note, I’m a little surprised that Bosom Buddies hasn’t been pulled by YouTube yet.

  2. Awe he almost made it too. If he wasn’t in a rush to change he would have gotten away with it.

  3. Isn’t this what being “gender fluid” means? With drivers licenses and airlines allowing one to pick a gender other than the standard “male or female”, one can be a male one second and something else a second later.

    It doesn’t make sense to me, but progressives think this is normal. Follow the science…..

  4. The government of Guatemala recently announced that the Covid testing center inside the Guatemala City airport had never been licensed. This means that countless thousands of teavelers flew from Guatemala to the US with illegal Covid test results. But, who cares? Certainly not President Biden.

    Biden trusts 100% of the Covid tests from outside the US.

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