Dr Habib Zaidi, a family GP, is thought to be the first doctor in the UK to have been killed by coronavirus on March 25. The 76-year-old, from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, died in intensive care just 24 hours after being taken ill.
His daughter Dr Sarah Zaidi, also a GP, said the knowledge that coronavirus had taken him was “too much to bear.”
She added: “It is reflective of his sacrifice. He had a vocational attitude to service.”
Dr Zaidi had been self isolating at home and had not seen patients for a week before he died.
He and his wife, Dr Talat Zaidi, 70, were both managing partners of Eastwood Group Practice and had served three generations of families in the area for nearly 50 years.
Their daughter added: “We can’t mourn in the normal way. We can’t have a normal funeral. He 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.”