Unvaccinated Uber driver hit with a $4,135 fine for sparking Queensland’s Covid panic breaks silence

An unvaccinated Uber driver who sparked a Covid outbreak scare has claimed authorities exaggerated how sick the virus made him – despite health officials saying he could barely speak in hospital.

Duran Raman, 36, a self-confessed anti-vaxxer, copped a $4,135 fine for breaching border rules by travelling back to Queensland from Covid-hit Melbourne.

He became so sick with the virus he needed hospital care for two weeks.

After being discharged from Gold Coast University Hospital, Mr Raman claimed his case of the virus ‘wasn’t that bad’.

Mr Raman (pictured) was slapped with a $4,135 fine by Queensland Police for breaching the border

When news broke that Mr Raman had potentially exposed the community to Covid, Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said he was ‘breathless’.

‘He’s so breathless he can hardly talk to us and will probably have to go into intensive care,’ Dr Young said.

Mr Raman said that wasn’t how he remembered his illness. 

‘I was fine. They were exaggerating it like something stupid.. it wasn’t that bad,’ Mr Raman told 9News, adding he was not on his ‘death bed’. 

Mr Raman was rushed to hospital with Covid after breaching Queensland’s border restrictions

Sources alleged the infected patient has verbally abused nurses caring for him at Gold Coast University Hospital (pictured)

Hospital sources alleged Raman has been an uncooperative patient who verbally abused nurses.

They also claimed he insisted he ‘doesn’t really have’ Covid-19 and claimed the virus wasn’t real, as several hospital sources shared more details about his alleged attempted escape. 

The Broadbeach rideshare driver arrived in Queensland on October 10 following a trip to Melbourne but was believed to have been infectious several days prior.

He then tested positive for coronavirus at Robina Hospital on the Gold Coast several days later, bringing an end to the state’s 15-day Covid-free streak.

He allegedly 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.

Police arrived at the Island Beach Resort, where he lives alone, and he was taken to Gold Coast University by an ambulance and placed on oxygen.