First Doctor Dies of Coronavirus in UK with ‘Textbook Symptoms’

A GP in the UK has died after contracting coronavirus and showing ‘textbook symptoms’ his family have confirmed.

Dr Habib Zaidi, 76, passed away in intensive care at Southend Hospital, Essex, 24 hours after being taken ill on Tuesday, the BBC reports.

His family said Dr Zaidi, a GP in Leigh-on-Sea for more than 45 years, had sacrificed his life for his profession. His daughter Dr Sarah Zaidi, also a GP, said he showed “textbook symptoms” of the virus.

If test results confirm he had Covid-19, he would be the first doctor in the UK to die after contracting the virus.

Dr Sarah Zaidi told the BBC: “For that to be the thing that took him is too much to bear. It is reflective of his sacrifice. He had a vocational attitude to service.

“He was treated as a definitive case. There is little clinical doubt it is coronavirus, the test result is academic.”

She added: “We can’t mourn in the normal way. We can’t have a normal funeral.

“He has left a gaping hole in our hearts, but a loss that is also felt within the community that he devoted almost his entire life to.

“We are praying for the safety of everyone right now.”