Byron Bay’s “patient zero” Zoran Radovanovic speaks out on return home
Byron Bay Covid patient Zoran Radovanovic insists he went there for legitimate reasons and had he known he was contagious he would never have gone.
NSW
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A Sydney businessman says he had no idea he was contagious with Covid when he travelled to Byron Bay, becoming northern NSW’s “patient zero”.
Zoran Radovanovic insists his travel north was for legitimate reasons and had he known he was contagious with the virus he would never have left his Rose Bay home.
After spending two weeks at Lismore Base Hospital recovering from the virus Radovanovic and his children returned home.
When asked if he knew he was contagious when he left Sydney, Radovanovic insisted he did not.
He said he would fight the charges of breaching Covid public health orders, laid against him by NSW police. “You think I knew I had corona(virus) in my pocket and took it and then went up there? No, it’s ridiculous,” he said.
“What kind of imbecile would do that? They said my wife was in hospital and I left her here, that’s bullshit. I’ve done nothing wrong, I want to tell my story.”
Radovanovic travelled from Sydney to Byron Bay with his two teenage children in the first week of August. Police allege that on their travels north – which Radovanovic has claimed was to look at property, an act that is technically allowed under the public health orders – he and his children failed to check in with a QR code.
Radovanovic was charged with seven offences including failing to comply with Covid-related directions and failing to comply with electronic registration directive.
In the 1990s, Radovanovic was convicted of two counts of burglary and theft in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.
“Who gives a f..k what I did 30 years ago?” he said.
Claims that he was something of a Covid-sceptic also appear to be history, with Radovanovic admitting the virus had taken a real toll on his health.
“How would you feel if you had to go to the hospital? I felt sick. I lost 15 kilos,” he said.