An 80-year-old man has died in Queensland after contracting COVID-19 while overseas

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is seen during a press conference at the Southport TAFE Nursing and Allied Health Ward on the Gold Coast, 8 April, 2021 Source: AAP

A man in his 80s has died from complications due to COVID-19 after returning to Queensland from the Philippines.

Queensland has recorded its seventh coronavirus-related death.

The death was a returned traveller in his 80s who contracted the virus overseas. He tested positive in quarantine after arriving from the Philippines.

There were zero new locally acquired and two new overseas acquired COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, lifting the total number of active cases to 55 in the state.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the Australian man passed away on Monday night.

“This is another reminder that this is a deadly virus and we are still seeing thousands of people around the world on a daily basis dying from COVID,” she said.

He had been living in the Philippines for “some time” before returning to Queensland and entering hotel quarantine, Ms D’Ath said.

The man returned to Australia on 20 March and tested positive five days later, when he was admitted to Brisbane’s Prince Charles Hospital.

Five of Queensland’s previous deaths acquired infections on cruise ships before being diagnosed in the state, while another woman was infected in the state before dying in Sydney.

Coronavirus deaths are only included in Queensland’s official toll if infections are diagnosed in the state.

That was not the case with another recent death, that of former PNG Eastern Highlands governor Malcolm Smith.

He died in a hospital north of Brisbane last week but had been diagnosed in PNG.

With AAP.