GP, 76, is the first medic to die of ‘suspected #coronavirus’ in UK

A GP has died after showing ‘textbook symptoms’ of coronavirus, 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 Habib, a GP in Leigh-on-Sea for more than 45 years, had sacrificed his life for his profession. He had been self-isolating and not seen patients in person for about a week before he died. .
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Tests have yet to confirm whether he had Covid-19, but his daughter, also a GP, said he showed ‘text book symptoms’ of the virus. .
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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.’ Dr Habib Zaidi was was managing partner of Eastwood Group Practice with his wife Dr Talat Zaidi. .
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Two years ago Dr Zaidi won an excellence award from the NHS Southend Clinical Comissioning Group (CCG), which described him as a ‘legend’ who was “highly revered by staff and patients alike’. Tributes have flooded into to the ‘kind and caring’ doctor on social media. Leader of Southend Council, Ian Gilbert, said: ‘We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dr Zaidi. Dr Zaidi and his family are well known and well-loved within the community.’ .
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On Facebook, one patient said: ‘A kinder more caring gentleman, doctor and friend you would be hard to find.’ Dr Zaidi’s widow has gone into quaranine away from the rest of the family. Dr Sarah Zaidi said: ‘We can’t mourn in the normal way. We can’t have a normal funeral.’ .
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Source: metro.co.uk