Anti-vaxxer on death’s door last week, tries to flee hospital quarantine
The Gold Coast Covid-positive anti-vaxxer who is being investigated for breaching the Queensland border blockade and potentially bringing the virus into the state has allegedly attempted to flee hospital quarantine, claiming Covid “doesn’t exist”.
Police are investing whether Covid victim Duran Raman broke border regulations before testing positive on the Gold Coast. (Facebook image).
Security has been stepped up at the hospital to prevent further escape attempts which could potentially spread the virus into the community.
Police said today that they were called to “a health facility due to a minor disturbance” around 9am Sunday.
Police said the matter was resolved quickly and there was no breach of a Public Health Direction detected and no charges have been laid.
Broadbeach rideshare driver, Duran Raman’s attempt to leave the Gold Coast University Hospital came just a day after he was placed on high-flow oxygen because he has been so ill with the virus.
Raman, 34, also allegedly abused hospital staff and claimed “Covid isn’t real”.
Raman’s attempted escape included trying to leave isolation, which means he may have potentially exposed patients and staff at the hospital ward to the virus.
Meanwhile, Queensland Police have arrested and charged an Annerley man who allegedly twice tried to enter the state illegally on Saturday.
Police said the man sped through a checkpoint at Goondiwindi only to be caught and sent back into NSW after he crashed his car.
Less than two hours later police caught him again, this time after he had allegedly hitchhiked across the border.
Police charged him with two counts of fail to comply with Covid-19 public health direction, and one each of evade police and drive without due care and attention. He was due to appear in Warwick Magistrates Court on Monday.
The Gold Coast incident was Raman’s second attempt at dodging pandemic restrictions, despite suffering severe symptoms of the virus.
He presented at the emergency department of Robina Hospital on Wednesday where he got a test, but then left the hospital against medical advice.
When the test came back positive, he had to be tracked down.
By Thursday, his symptoms were so severe he was admitted straight to Gold Coast University Hospital.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said on Friday that Raman’s health had deteriorated so badly, he was unable to speak to help Covid tracers determine where he had been. “He is on high-flow oxygen and he will probably need to go into intensive care. That is terrible,” Young said.
“He is a very young, fit man who was not vaccinated and he is now extremely sick.”
Young said Raman became sick after returning to Queensland from Melbourne on October 10. His social media accounts show he had also been in Sydney during the period the city was in lockdown amid high numbers of Delta strain cases.
