Covid-19 Qld: Uber driver at centre of latest crisis revealed

Authorities are scrambling to track as many of the movements of an unvaccinated Uber driver as possible after he failed to use the QR check-in app throughout his 10-day infectious period. He remains on a ventilator in hospital, too sick to speak.

An unvaccinated Uber driver who plunged southeast Queensland into a new Covid-19 crisis is the centre of a major police and Queensland Health investigation after ­allegedly sneaking across the border using a bogus pass ­following visits to Sydney and Melbourne.

Police are investi­gating if Duran Raman, 36, was turned away twice at the border in ­recent weeks before finally breaching it illegally while sick with the deadly Delta strain, and then spending 10 days infectious in the ­community.

He presented to Robina Hospital on Wednesday but then allegedly left against medical advice. He returned a positive Covid-19 test and police were called when he could not be contacted.

Police located him at his Broadbeach apartment on Wednesday afternoon and he was taken by ambulance to Gold Coast University Hospital.

On Thursday night, he was so ill he faced being placed on a ventilator.

It is feared authorities may not be able to speak with him for several days.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said Mr Raman was “so breathless he can hardly talk to us” and authorities were battling to trace ­places he had visited.

“He is so sick that we’re having difficulties talking to him and getting information from him,” Dr Young said.

“He started to develop symptoms on the 11th of Oct­ober, which means his infectious period goes back to the 9th of October, but we believe he was in Melbourne at that stage.”

Uber driver Duran Raman is at the centre of the state’s latest Covid-19 scare.

Dr Young said Mr Raman had not used the QR check-in since early September, making it “very difficult to work out where he has been in the community”.

He has been pilloried online, including on his own social media accounts.

Mr Raman’s Instagram and Tik Tok accounts appear to have been removed overnight.

Premier Annastacia Palas­zczuk said Mr Raman’s movements, including how he crossed the border, were being investigated by police.

“As you can appreciate, he’s very sick at the moment, it’s very hard to get information,” she said.

“They’ve worked with him overnight and into the early hours of the morning and we are giving people the most up to date information,” she said.

Mr Raman’s Instagram feed reveals he was in Covid-ravaged Sydney in September, with one video showing him pumping weights at a gym.

He has previously reposted anti-vax videos on social media and labelled lockdown-prone Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews a “deadset gronk”.

Greg Jermyn, manager of the Island Beach Resort at Broadbeach where Mr Raman lives, said the positive Covid case in his building was a “shock to the system” and caused turmoil.

Mr Jermyn said he and nine permanent residents had been forced to get Covid tests and isolate and he had to cancel holiday guests who had booked.

“It’s not the best,” he said.

“I’ve had to basically shut everything down and put letters under everyone’s doors.

“We have to isolate until we get the results.

“I don’t understand what he’s been doing the last 10 days.”

Duran Raman has been living at Island Beach Resort, Broadbeach.

Mr Jermyn said Mr Raman had lived in the building for about 12 months and been an “all right” tenant.

Queensland Health last night listed the Island Beach Resort as a casual exposure site from October 16 to 21, but the Gilly Barber shop at Rich­lands in Brisbane was listed as a close contact venue.

The Freedom Fuels service station at Acacia Ridge was also identified as a casual contact site.

Mr Raman had previously come to police attention, charged earlier this year with low-range drink-driving and driving unlicensed.

He pleaded guilty to the two charges in Southport Magistrates Court on June 18, according to court records.

He was fined $1000 and disqualified from driving for two months.

Mr Raman was also believed to have come to police attention in Melbourne ­recently.

He played for the Broadbeach Cats Aussie rules reserve grade team, kicking several goals this season.

An Uber spokeswoman said he had not driven for the global rideshare provider for almost a month.

The case ended Queensland’s 15-day run without a community case.

Dr Young said while other parts of the state had 10 days to get vaccinated in time for the state’s December 17 reopening, the Gold Coast did not. “Gold Coast, you don’t have 10 days – you need to do it immediately,” she said.

She said there were still 176,000 unvaccinated Gold Coasters which was a “lot of people”.

She also urged anyone on the Gold Coast with Covid symptoms to immediately get tested.

“I also need people in the Gold Coast to wear masks, no different to what I’ve been asking now for several months,” she said.

“But I know compliance has not always been great down on the Gold Coast.

“This is the time to make sure you’re wearing a mask, whether you’re indoors or in a taxi or in a rideshare.”

Originally published as Covid-19 Qld: Uber driver at centre of latest crisis revealed