Coroner to rule on virus

Death cause ‘unclear’

A CORONER will investigate whether the death of a 36-year-old woman in the state’s North-West at the weekend was Covid related.

The Department of Public Health on Monday confirmed the death but said the circumstances were unclear.

“While there has been speculation in the community that the woman died from Covid-19 complications, this has not been formally determined,” Health Department head Kathrine MorganWicks said.

“Given the circumstances surrounding her death, the matter has been referred to the Coroner for determination.

“On behalf of the Department of Health and the Tasmanian Health Service, I extend my condolences to the woman’s family and loved ones.”

If the death is linked to Covid, it would be the state’s third since borders reopened on December 15. The death has not been included in daily Covid statistics.

On Thursday, the Premier confirmed a 90-year-old unvaccinated woman had died from the virus.

He said Covid had not been recorded as the cause of death on her death certificate, but the infection could not be ruled out as a contributing factor.

An 85-year-old man died on Saturday after being admitted to the Mersey Community Hospital on Thursday.

Primary industries minister Guy Barnett provided an update on Tasmania’s Covid cases on Monday and was asked if he could confirm if there had been a third death.

“As soon as any death related to Covid becomes clear to the government, that is made public as soon as possible,” Mr Barnett said.

Tasmania’s daily Covid cases fell for a seventh day in a row, with 619 recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm Sunday.

The number of cases in hospital continued to climb with 41 people admitted, an increase of two from the last reporting period.

The Department of Health said 17 of those patients are being treated specifically for Covid-19 and 24 for unrelated medical conditions.

The number of patients in the ICU remained the same at 3, while 16 people were in community case management facilities and 302 were participating in the covid@home program.

In total, there were 5563 active cases in Tasmania, with 706 people released from isolation in the last reporting period.