According to the World Health Organization, there are currently almost 700,000 cases of COVID-19 across 203 countries, with more than 33,000 deaths worldwide. The UK currently has almost 20,000 cases, with 1,228 deaths so far.
According to the World Health Organization, there are currently almost 700,000 cases of COVID-19 across 203 countries, with more than 33,000 deaths worldwide. The UK currently has almost 20,000 cases, with 1,228 deaths so far.
It has sadly emerged over the weekend that three UK doctors have now passed away from the Coronavirus. Giving their lives in the worldwide fight against the spread of COVID-19, these three doctors must be remembered not only for their sacrifice, but for their dedication towards the essential and life-saving NHS workforce. Dr Habib Zaidi, Dr Adil El Tayar, and Dr Amged Al-Hawrani will remain in our thoughts and prayers as countless others risk their lives trying to save ours.
Dr Habib Zaidi was reportedly the first doctor to die of COVID-19 in the UK. Showing “textbook symptoms” of COVID-19 after being taken ill last Tuesday, Dr Zaidi, 76, immediately self-isolated. Unfortunately he was not able to recover from the virus, passing away only 24 hours after the symptoms first appeared.
A GP in Leigh-on-Sea for almost 50 years, Dr Zaidi also was a managing partner of Eastwood Group Practice with his wife Dr Talat Zaidi. His wife has now also gone into self-isolation. His funeral was attended by a small gathering of close family members in south Essex, as per the new government rules, however his legacy will be remembered and celebrated long after his death. One patient on Facebook commented: “A kinder and more caring gentleman, doctor, and friend you would be hard to find”.
Dr Adil El Tayar, an organ transplant consultant, has also reportedly become the first working NHS surgeon to die from COVID-19 in the UK. Sadly passing away on the 25th of March at the West Middlesex University Hospital in west London, Dr Tayar, 63, was volunteering at the Hereford Hospital in the Midlands during the COVID-19 outbreak – where he is suspected of picking up the virus during his selfless work with the NHS.
First graduating from the University of Khartoum in 1982, he then worked as a transplant surgeon at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, before moving abroad to Saudi Arabia and then back to Sudan where he helped establish a transplant program at the Ibn Sina Hospital in Khartoum. Following this, he moved back to the UK to work at St George’s Hospital as a locum surgeon. His death has been mourned by many – and as he had selflessly volunteered at the hospital to help in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, his passing can only be described as heroic.
Dr Amged El Hawrani has reportedly become the third UK doctor to die from COVID-19, after passing away on Saturday at the Glenfield Hospital in Leicester. An ear, nose, and throat consultant at the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton, Dr Al Hawrani, who was in his mid-50s, is one of the first senior medics to pass away from the virus.
Dr El Hawrani’s family have thanked the NHS for their “tireless” work to try and save him, stating: “They worked tirelessly for their patient, as he would have done for his own”. Professor Stephen Powis, the National Medical Director of NHS England, has stated: “The NHS is a family and we all feel deeply the loss of any of our colleagues, but as we all continue to unite and work together to tackle the spread of coronavirus, I know that the whole of the NHS and the public we serve will want to extend our sympathies to the El Hawrani family”.
According to the World Health Organization, there are currently almost 700,000 cases of COVID-19 across 203 countries, with more than 33,000 deaths worldwide. The UK currently has almost 20,000 cases, with 1,228 deaths so far.
