Man dies in southeast Queensland hospital after COVID complications
A 77-year-old man who died in a southeast Queensland hospital after suffering complications due to COVID-19 was a respected businessman and former governor from PNG.
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The man who died in a southeast Queensland hospital from COVID-19 complications has been revealed as Mal Kela Smith, a respected former governor and businessman from Papua New Guinea.
PNG Health Minister Jelta Wong confirmed that Mr Smith, 77, a former governor of the Eastern Highlands, had passed away in the Redcliffe hospital on Monday after he was evacuated from PNG on an emergency flight on March 28.
Mr Wong told The Courier-Mail that Mr Smith’s death was “a sad day for Papua New Guinea” and proved that COVID-19 “does not discriminate”.
“Mal Kela Smith was an institution of Papua New Guinea,” Mr Wong told News Corp Australia.
“He was one of the first to push into the aviation industry, he did a lot of work around the country but he ended up living in the Eastern Highlands.”
Mr Wong said Mr Smith’s business, Pacific Helicopters, helped transport people living in rural areas to medical appointments.
“He helped a lot of people through his business, his chopper business, in very rural areas - he used to be very good at bringing people out of remote areas to get hospital checks.”
Mr Wong said Mr Smith, who was born in the UK, had been elected governor of the eastern highlands twice and served as chairman of the provincial hospital board.
PNG officials are now in the process of repatriating the respected leader’s body back to the Eastern Highlands.
Mr Smith was one of a growing number of people from PNG with COVID-19 being cared for in Queensland hospitals.
PNG’s health system has been struggling under the weight of a tsunami of pandemic virus cases in recent months, prompting Queensland Health to fast-track COVID-19 vaccination in the Torres and Cape regions.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said at the weekend Queensland had been providing “assistance to our nearest neighbour”.
“I’m very concerned for PNG,” she said. “When they’ve had severely unwell people, we’ve been accepting them.”
The man’s death comes amid ongoing lockdowns of hospitals, aged care facilities, disability accommodation and prisons in Queensland until at least April 15 after two separate COVID-19 clusters linked to the Princess Alexandra Hospital last month.
Visitors are only allowed in end-of-life situations.
PA Hospital services have had to be cut back after about 580 health workers were directed into quarantine after the clusters, both linked to the facility’s infectious disease ward 5D.
The ward has been closed for a thorough clean and COVID-19 patients moved to other hospitals.
Pending the results of COVID-19 tests, most of the quarantined staff are expected to be back at work by next week.
Queensland recorded no new cases of COVID-19 today.
The state’s pandemic death toll remains at six, despite the death of the elderly man from PNG.
Under Australia’s COVID-19 reporting protocols, because the man was diagnosed in PNG, he will not be included in the Queensland COVID death toll.
Six Queenslanders have died of COVID-19 during the pandemic, the last in April last year.
In the latest sewage testing results, Queensland Health said fragments of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, had been detected at wastewater treatment plans in Capalaba, Maroochydore and Maryborough.
Dr Young said “it was more important than ever” for all Queenslanders to get tested for the virus, even if they only had mild symptoms.
Symptoms include a fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, fatigue, diarrhoea, nausea or vomiting and loss of taste or smell.
“As we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks, we’re still in this pandemic and we can’t be complacent,” she said.
“It is critical we detect any cases that we may not be aware of as quickly as possible through our testing system.”
The death, and fragments find, comes after Jacinda Ardern announced a trans-Tasman bubble between Australia and New Zealand will begin at 11.59pm on Sunday April 18.
For information about COVID-19 testing locations: health.qld.gov.au
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