Uber drivers in Sydney lift the lid on illegal Covid lockdown parties and steamy Tinder dates

Uber drivers exposes the rise in illegal lockdown parties, nail treatments and steamy Tinder dates among their passengers – as public patience with marathon lockdown quickly wanes

  • Uber drivers say growing number of Sydneysiders are breaking lockdown rules
  • Apple maps data also supports these claims with increased direction requests 
  • Rideshare workers says passengers are going to secret parties and on dates 
  • ‘White and privileged’ customers are the worst culprits, the Uber drivers say


Uber drivers have spilt the beans on Sydney’s growing number of lockdown rulebreakers who are getting rideshare services all over the city to attend secret parties and hook-up with Tinder dates.

Sydneysiders are now entering their 14th gruelling week under harsh stay-at-home orders as coronavirus case numbers continue to soar with around 1,400 infections a day.

But in the past two weeks rideshare workers say an increasing number of fed-up residents are starting to flaunt the health orders and it’s mainly ‘white and privileged’ people living in suburbs outside the LGAs of concern.

Uber drivers in Sydney say there’s a growing number people flouting lockdown rules

‘There are some booty calls that you pick up in the morning, and the odd failed Tinder date. Then they try to be shy about what they’re doing, but it’s hard to be shy about what you’re doing when you’re holding a six-pack or a case,’ driver Graham McLaughlin from Glebe told the Sydney Morning Herald.

He said Friday nights in particular are much more busy with young men going off to mate’s places to ‘watch the footy’ after getting tired of Netflix.

Women are also flagrantly breaching the lockdown rules with at-home hair cosmetic services becoming more popular.

An Uber driver from the Shire in Sydney’s south who wished to remain anonymous, said she dropped a woman off who said she was going to ‘get her nails done’.

One of the giveaways a passenger is on an illegal Tinder date is when they’re unsure of the address, drivers explained.

Amanda Honey, an Uber driver for six years in Sydney’s inner west said another tell-tale sign is when a passenger immediately tries to ‘justify why they’re going somewhere’ after stepping in to the car.

The most common excuse is that they are going to meet their other a friend in their designated ‘singles bubble’ which is allowed under the restrictions.

An increasing number of Sydneysiders are getting rideshare services all over the city to attend secret parties and hook-up with Tinder dates (stock image)

An increasing number of Sydneysiders are getting rideshare services all over the city to attend secret parties and hook-up with Tinder dates (stock image)

‘They’ll be all fresh and clean and showered and after-shaved and they’re unnecessarily offering what they’re doing or where they’re going because they’re concerned,’ she said.

But some passengers have not concerns at all about what they’re doing.

‘I drove a plumber who lived around Bankstown last Friday and he was saying to me: what lockdown? He said ‘I’ve got a business to run and I’m willing to risk the fine, I’m just ignoring it completely’.’

Another alarming trend is that more customers are refusing to wear masks, a legal condition of entry when stepping inside a rideshare vehicle.

Wayne Newton, who lives in the Canterbury-Bankstown LGA of concern which is subject to even harsher rules than the rest of Sydney, said of his 10 fares last Thursday, eight were not wearing face masks.

Another alarming trend is that more Uber customers are refusing to wear face masks, claiming they are exempt

Another alarming trend is that more Uber customers are refusing to wear face masks, claiming they are exempt

Mr Newton said they claim they have an exemption from the state-wide health mandate and there isn’t much he can do to stop them.

Over the past two weeks the number of people seeking directions through Apple Maps appears to corroborate the Uber driver’s claims.

The eight-day average was at 55.68 percent of normal levels but increased to 60.22 per cent in the week to September 8, indicating there are more people travelling around locked-down Sydney.

The NSW government is set to greatly ease restrictions for the fully vaccinated in mid-October when Covid vaccination rates eclipse 70 per cent for those aged over 16.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk