Notorious Australian socialite Anthony Hess unknowingly spread the Delta strain of coronavirus to at least 60 people in a single weekend.
Hess, 40, best known for his ill-fated friendship with Married At First Sight star Stacey Hampton and defeating Sydney PR queen Roxy Jacenko in court, fled to Los Angeles last year after a punch-up with his bikie boss mate Toby Mitchell.
As much of the US, including Hess, was vaccinated against Covid, masks and lockdowns gave way to boozy parties and nightclub openings.
However, the country is now gripped by the highly infectious Delta strain and many fully vaccinated Americans are catching the virus and getting sick.
Anthony Hess, 40, (pictured with a friend) unknowingly spread the Delta strain of coronavirus to at least 60 people in Los Angeles in a single weekend
Hess said he only developed symptoms mid-last week, well after his big bender, and spent four days in bed barely functional
Delta is so infectious that it only took one wild weekend on July 9-11 for Hess to spread it to 20 confirmed cases, and another 40 people who now have symptoms.
‘Honestly, I have no idea how many people I infected, I came into contact with so many it could be hundreds,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I feel so guilty, I’ve had dozens of friends message me saying they have symptoms, but I’m vaccinated and had no idea I had Covid.’
The reluctant super-spreader, who had two shots of Moderna, said he only developed symptoms mid-last week, well after his big bender, and spent four days in bed barely functional.
‘I basically slept for four days straight without eating, I’m sweating so bad, felt like I was dying and lost so much weight,’ he said.
He also suffered the classic blocked nose, sore throat, dry cough, and shortness of breath.
However, he knows without being fully vaccinated – as only 11 per cent of Australians are – he would have been in a lot more trouble.
Hess (centre) at the Ritz Carlton hotel in downtown Los Angeles with former Neighbours star Scarlet Vas (far right) and socialite Stephanie Mal last year
Los Angeles had almost 8,000 new cases in the same time despite widespread vaccination, and the whole US almost 59,000 and 622 deaths
Hess said his super-spreading and what is happening in Los Angeles should be a wakeup call to Australians who don’t take the pandemic seriously.
‘It just goes to show how easily people can spread the Delta strain without knowing,’ he said.
‘Everyone in Australia thinks it’s a joke, it’s not. LA is putting restrictions back on. The virus is spreading so fast, people are dying.
‘I didn’t take it seriously either, until it happened to me. In Australia no-one knows anyone who’s had it.’
Hess said it appeared the Delta variant was overpowering Covid vaccines as most of the people he infected were double-jabbed. He now worries there will be a massive outbreak.
Los Angeles is now gripped by the highly infectious Delta strain and many fully vaccinated Americans are catching the virus and getting sick
‘It’s going to be mayhem here because it has been normal for so long, all the big parties and festivals. Everyone is freaking out,’ he said.
‘Everyone is Australia is complaining [about lockdowns]? At least the government is protecting people.’
Delta’s infection rate in countries with high vaccinations has prompted renewed restrictions and mask wearing, and raised concerns immunisations may not be the silver bullet to cure the world of Covid for good.
Australia recorded 138 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, 110 of which were in Sydney’s outbreak, and 14 million people are in lockdown.
Hess (left) got special permission to leave Australia last October after he was repeatedly hit in the face by Mongols bikie president Toby Mitchell (right) sparked by former friend Stacey Hampton (centre) spreading false rumours that he called Mitchell a ‘dog and a c**t’
LA had almost 8,000 new cases in the same time despite widespread vaccination, and the whole US almost 59,000 and 622 deaths.
The party animal with a nose for trouble got special permission to leave Australia last October after he was repeatedly hit in the face by Mongols bikie president Mitchell.
Hess called the bashing a ‘drunken misunderstanding between mates’ sparked by Hampton spreading false rumours that he called Mitchell a ‘dog and a c**t’, and asked for the charges to be dropped.
Police prosecuted Mitchell for the assault anyway, even after Hess flew to LA to avoid being questions over the brawl.
Australian Government flight caps means he can’t get back to his Melbourne home town as there are no flights.
PR queen Roxy Jacenko accused him of spraying ‘Roxy is a c**t’ on her office wall in Sydney’s Paddington after an altercation at one of her speaking events
Married at First Sight star Stacey Hampton was formerly close friends with Hess until they had a nasty falling out last year
A frequent drama magnet, Hess was hit with a restraining order by prominent PR maven Ms Jacenko in 2019, but had it overturned in court in February 2020.
Ms Jacenko accused him of spraying ‘Roxy is a c**t’ on her office wall in Sydney’s Paddington after an altercation at one of her speaking events.
Hess denied the vandalism saying ‘gay guys don’t do graffiti’ and the court agreed, but he was last month fined $2,400 after new video evidence was discovered.
His falling out with former BFF Hampton was no less dramatic with photos of the pair shopping last year critical to getting the MAFS favourite fined for breaching quarantine rules.
Since their messy parting of way they have not missed an opportunity to snipe at each other on social media.