The unvaccinated Uber driver being cared for in a Queensland hospital has allegedly tried to flee the ward despite needing a constant supply of oxygen.
Duran Raman was allegedly found in a hallway at Gold Coast University Hospital after he left his isolation room on Sunday night.
Police travelled to the hospital to speak to the 36-year-old but did not arrest or charge the rideshare driver, the Courier Mail reports.
Raman is required to remain in his hospital room for 14 days regardless of if his infectious period is over under a public health direction.
Duran Raman, aged in his 30s, (pictured) was infectious in the community for up to 10 days after returning from a trip to Melbourne on October 10
While Nine’s Today show earlier reported authorities were investigating the alleged escape attempt, Queensland Police said the incident has been resolved.
‘Police are not investigating an incident at a health facility on the Gold Coast,’ a statement read.
‘Around 9am yesterday police were called to a health facility due to a minor disturbance.
‘The matter was resolved quickly and without any issue. There was no breach of a Public Health Direction detected.’
It comes after the Broadbeach man showed signs his health was deteriorating on Friday, after being admitted to hospital with coronavirus on Wednesday.
Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young revealed at a press conference the rideshare driver was ‘very unwell’ and was relying on oxygen.
‘Over the last 24 hours he has deteriorated so he needs more oxygen’ she told reporters on Friday.
‘They are keeping a very close eye on him. He is on high flow oxygen and he will probably need to go into intensive care.
‘That is terrible. He is a very young, fit man who was not vaccinated and he is now extremely sick.’
‘Sometimes if high flow oxygen is inadequate, then they need to go onto a ventilator.’
Health authorities on Saturday morning said Raman was in a ‘stable but serious condition’ but has so far avoided admission into the intensive care unit.
Dr Young revealed Raman had been so ill Queensland Health did not yet have exposure sites based on his movements.
Guests, residents, and workers who have been at Island Beach Resort in Broadbeach (pictured) anytime from Saturday through to Tuesday have been plunged into isolation
‘He was so sick that he probably has not been out in the community so we don’t have exposure venues for him other than his place of residence,’ Dr Young said.
‘Anyone who lives there has been told any symptoms at all to get tested but we believe they are only casual contacts because he has been so sick he has been at home.’
Raman arrived in Queensland on October 10 following a trip to Melbourne but is believed to have been infectious several days prior.
He tested positive for coronavirus at the Robina Hospital last Wednesday, bringing an end to the state’s 15-day Covid-free streak.
It is alleged he checked out of the hospital before the results came back and had to be tracked down at his home by police and health authorities when he could not be contacted, the Courier Mail reported.
Police arrived at the resort, where he lives alone, about 5.30pm on Wednesday and he was taken to Gold Coast University by an ambulance and placed on oxygen.
Police arrived at Raman’s resort, where he lives alone, about 5.30pm on Wednesday and took the Covid-positive 36-year-old to Gold Coast University (pictured) by ambulance
Health authorities said the exercise enthusiast, who is ‘so sick he can barely speak’, has lived in the Island Beach Resort in Broadbeach for about 12 months and was out and about around the Gold Coast for 10 days while infectious.
Adding to the difficulty of their task, Raman – who was unvaccinated and shared anti-vax videos over his social media accounts – allegedly has not used Queensland’s QR check-in system for over a month, according to health officials.
The gym junkie is no so sick with coronavirus it has proven difficult to get information on his movements since he returned from a trip to Melbourne on October 10.
Police are currently investigating if his entry into Queensland two weeks ago was a potential illegal border breach.
It’s believed the 36-year-old also visited Sydney in late September.
Raman’s home has become the subject of four Covid-19 alerts after residents were exposed all day on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.
Everyone who was at the resort on those days will need to get tested immediately and isolate until they receive a negative result.
Dr Young has also urged anyone who had been in the Broadbeach or greater Gold Coast areas since October 11 to monitor for Covid-19 symptoms.
‘This is a wake-up call for the Gold Coast,’ the Queensland Premier said on Thursday.
‘The issue about this gentleman is that [he was] not vaccinated.’
‘We are a little bit concerned about this person that has been infectious in the community and if you have any symptoms whatsoever, now is the time to get vaccinated.’
Uber were quick to issue a statement that said the man had not driven with the service since September 19.
‘We work with public health authorities in each state, and have processes in place to temporarily remove an individual’s access to the Uber app if authorities report an infection,’ it told Daily Mail Australia.
The Queensland premier has said the new case of Covid-19, an unvaccinated rideshare driver, was a ‘wake-up call for the Gold Coast’ (pictured, a 13-year-old receives a Covid-19 vaccine)
Mr Raman posted his reaction to a Covid press conference from the start of September in which Mr Andrews announced some eased restrictions, labelling the premier a ‘gronk’
Mr Raman, who has also played for local AFL team Broadbeach Cats, reportedly had a brush with the law earlier this year when he was charged with low-range drink driving and driving unlicensed.
He pleaded guilty to both charges in Southport Magistrates Court in June and was fined $1000 and banned from driving for two months.
Raman shared his reaction to a Victorian Covid press conference from the start of September in which Premier Dan Andrews announced some eased restrictions.
He captioned the video posted to his Instagram: ‘Mr Gronk. A dead set gronk’.
In the conference, the premier announced playgrounds would be reopening and authorised workers would once again be permitted in homes to provide services.
‘Yay. The playgrounds are going to reopen. Wow,’ Mr Raman is heard saying.
‘Playgrounds and looking after kids, you f***ing gronk. You’re a gronk, look at ya.’
The rideshare driver went to Robina Hospital (pictured) emergency department yesterday, having become increasingly unwell following his return from Melbourne on October 10
‘This is a wake-up call for the Gold Coast,’ Ms Palaszczuk (pictured) said. ‘The issue about this gentleman is that they were not vaccinated’
Meanwhile, a truck driver had been infectious for two days in Queensland as the state announced no new community-acquired cases.
Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said a truck driver with one dose of vaccine had been infectious in Queensland on October 18 and 19 and was now back in Victoria.
He tested positive to the virus on October 20. Dr Young said he had received a first dose of a Covid vaccine on October 1 and ‘that is not sufficient to stop someone spreading the virus’.
Ms Palaszczuk objected to suggestions international travellers should be allowed to travel to Queensland in line with the bringing forward of entry to NSW from people overseas.
‘Our vaccination rates aren’t high enough. We are not at 70 per cent double dose,’ she said.
Ms Palaszczuk objected to suggestions international travellers should be allowed to travel to Queensland in line with the bringing forward of entry to NSW from people overseas (pictured, international passengers at Brisbane airport)
‘We have set out a clear road map. We need people to come forward and get vaccinated. We haven’t had the situations that New South Wales and Victoria have, where tragically we are seeing numbers of people who have lost their life each and every day.
‘We haven’t had that but now is the time. We have got that window of opportunity for Queenslanders to get vaccinated.’
‘We will look at that closely but, as we are seeing today, a clear example, five cases in hotel quarantine, so Queensland does not have the protection yet that it needs to be able to have quarantine-free vaccinated people staying in Queensland.’
Meanwhile, Ms Palaszczuk has called for the 156,000 people on the Gold Coast who remain unvaccinated to come forward for a jab.
Although the state’s exposure site list is likely to grow, Ms Palaszczuk said lockdown on the Gold Coast was not likely as a result of the new case because of the area’s relatively high vaccination rate.
As of Sunday, 74.85 per cent of Queenslanders have now received a first dose of vaccine, with 60.41 per cent now fully vaccinated (pictured, a staff member in Brisbane)
Queensland Health figures show more than 60 per cent of people in the Broadbeach area are fully-vaccinated.
Ms Palaszczuk was speaking in Mackay as part of a week-long tour to encourage vaccination rates in regional Queensland, where rates have been lagging.
Ms Palaszczuk identified a number of towns where she said vaccination rates were too low given the state’s deadline of a phased reopening by November 19 and a full reopening on December 17.
She mentioned Bowen at 48.4 per cent having received a first dose of vaccine, Moranbah at 46.5 per cent, Serena at 61 per cent and the Whitsundays at 63 per cent as places where rates were too low.
‘We know Mackay and Proserpine and the Whitsundays are absolutely gateways for tourism,’ she said. ‘We know that, on December 17, there will be tourists coming from all around Australia so please go and get vaccinated.’
Queensland Health plans to turn 100 high schools into mass vaccination clinics across a number of areas of the state with lagging vaccination rates, including Mackay, West Moreton, Cairns, Townsville, Wide Bay, Central Queensland, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Metro South and Metro North.
The new case ends a run of 15 days in which Queensland has not had any community acquired cases of Covid-19 (pictured, locals enjoying a sunny day on the Gold Coast)
Ms Palaszczuk has urged regional residents to ‘hop on the lifeboat’ by getting vaccinated before the December 17 reopening date.
‘I can’t look after you if you won’t hop in the lifeboat,’ she said at a press conference in Maryborough on Wednesday.
‘We need everyone to get on the lifeboat and we’ll be protected. We have 11 days to go to get everyone vaccinated.’
The premier warned the Sunshine State would reopen borders to the rest of Australia on December 17, even if the 80 per cent double-dose target is not reached.
As of Sunday, 74.85 per cent of Queenslanders have now received a first dose of vaccine, with 60.41 per cent now fully vaccinated.