COVID-19: Death of WA man James Kwan, the first in Australia to die from coronavirus, should be ‘wake up call’ to public, AMA WA says

Australia’s first coronavirus death has sent shock waves around the nation, with a West Australian evacuee from the Diamond Princess cruise ship the latest victim of the killer virus. And the death of the 78-year-old James Kwan, should be a “wake-up call” to the community, according to one of the State’s top doctors. The Federal Government is working to ensure the coronavirus does not sweep through the Australian community as the victim’s 79-year-old wife continues to battle COVID-19 from a negative pressure isolation room at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. He was diagnosed with coronavirus at the Howard Springs quarantine facility in Darwin and transported to Perth on February 21 for treatment. While his wife, Theresa, who initially tested negative for the virus, was confirmed to have it on Friday. This morning Mr Kwan, a retired travel agent, lost his battle, after being moved to the hospital’s intensive care unit last week. He was remembered as a pioneer in the WA tourism industry, who opened up Asian markets to the State through founding Wel-Travel in 1988. Mr Kwan also had a passion for golf and was a familiar face at The Vines golf club in Perth’s Swan Valley. Several members paid tribute to their fellow golfer. “James will be dearly missed around the club. .. Thank you James for your generosity over many years,” one member said. Mr Kwan’s family put out a statement saying he was “loved”. His death was the seventh from the Diamond Princess, with 705 recorded cases of the virus from aboard the ship. WA Premier Mark McGowan said it was “obviously a tragic event”, especially for the man’s family. “It would have been awful. They couldn’t go in and touch him or hold his hand. It would have been so tragically sad. I feel deeply for them in that circumstance,” he said. Meanwhile, the travel ban on non-Australian citizens from China and Iran is unlikely to be lifted for another month as the spread of coronavirus grows in countries outside of China. Close to 87,000 people have been infected with the virus that is believed to have originated out of a market in Hubei province in China late last year. Of the 41,452 current active cases, around one in five people are in a serious or critical condition with close to 3000 deaths worldwide. Japan and Australia are the only countries to record new fatalities today after the US had its first death – a man in his 50s — on Saturday night. There are now 28 cases of coronavirus in Australia and president of the WA branch of the Australian Medical Association Andrew Miller said the first Australian fatality needed to be a “wake-up call” to Australians to take the virus seriously. “I guess we’re used to being warned about things, and as Australians we tend to say she’ll be OK and it will work out ...but in this instance we really do need to take a call to prepare very seriously. “The truth is we probably haven't seen a virus like this one since 1918 with the Spanish flu, so I understand why it’s been a little slow to get the wheels going.” The West Australian can reveal one plan on the table in the event of a widespread outbreak is that several public hospitals could become infectious disease centres dealing only with COVID-19 while private hospitals take overflow elective patients in order to ease the strain on the public system. Australian Private Hospitals Association chief executive Michael Roff said he met with Health Minister Greg Hunt’s office last week and raised the plan. “This is something that was considered in the early 2000s during an outbreak then,” he said. “It wouldn’t happen unless there was an uncontrolled outbreak but it is an option.” Mr McGowan said the coming months would present a higher risks of the virus spreading. “The modelling indicates that potentially, in late April or May, there may be greater spread of the illness here in Australia, and at that point in time obviously we would need to ramp up some of our activities,” he told the ABC. “The peak would then hit us in potentially August, which is obviously not a great month because our coldest months with the highest level of flu.” WA chief health officer Andrew Robertson said coronavirus often caused patients to deteriorate in the second week of being sick. He advised the public to ensure they were practising hand hygiene to prevent the spread and strongly recommended people get the flu vaccine this year. The Federal Government’s National Security Committee of Cabinet will meet early this week to consider continued responses to the virus.