Covid limo driver ‘on top of the world’ as his isolation ends

A hire car driver who was the first COVID-19 case of the current outbreak hid behind a bag of fruit as he ended his isolation.

A hire car driver and his wife who were the first two Covid-19 cases of the current outbreak say they are “on top of the world” after completing their 14-day isolation.

The couple — who The Daily Telegraph have chosen not to name — left the house on Wednesday for the first time since their positive tests were recorded on June 16.

Health authorities believe the driver, aged in his 60s, contracted the virus when transporting a Fed Ex aircrew to hotel quarantine on June 11, and for four days unknowingly spread it throughout the community.

Despite his proximity to international travellers the driver was unvaccinated, but a NSW Police investigation found he had not committed a crime or breached any health orders.

The hire car driver at the centre of the recent COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney ventured outside on Wednesday after completing two weeks of isolation. Picture: Tim Hunter

When asked if she had suffered any ill effects from the Delta strain of COVID-19, the driver’s wife said she had fully recovered.

“I’m feeling on top of the world,” the woman said. “It’s my first day out of the house and I’m enjoying myself.”

On Wednesday morning the driver and his wife ventured out to restock their cupboards for the first time in a fortnight.

In their infamous hire car, they visited the Bondi Post Office, before going shopping for fruit, vegetables and other groceries.

Although the driver has reportedly denied NSW Health’s claims that he is the primary case of the outbreak, his wife refused to give their side of the story when offered the chance.

“What is there to talk about?” she said. “If people want to talk, let them talk. It‘s none of their business.”

When asked if she had suffered any ill effects from the Delta strain of COVID-19, the driver’s wife said she was “on top of the world”. Picture: John Grainger

The driver’s second Covid transmission is believed to have occurred during a fleeting pass with a man in his 50s at Myer in the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre. Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

Over the days in which the driver was unknowingly contagious, he visited a number of locations in the Bondi and eastern suburbs area.

Authorities suspect that after passing the virus onto his wife, the next transmission occurred during a fleeting pass with a man in his 50s at Myer in the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre.

That same weekend a woman in her 70s contracted the virus while sitting outside Belle Cafe in Vaucluse when the driver briefly walked past her to get inside.

In the wake of the incident those transporting airline crews or returned travellers must wear a mask and have to have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Compliance with those orders rests on the shoulders of employers, with fines up to $11,000 in place for those who are caught breaking the rules.