A senior doctor at Peshawar's Hayatabad Medical Complex passed away from Covid-19 early on Saturday morning, the hospital's director Shehzad Faisal confirmed.

Dr Mohammad Javed was an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist and had been working inside the Covid-19 ward of the hospital. "He was on the front lines to combat the coronavirus," Faisal said.

The hospital director added that Dr Javed had tested positive for the coronavirus a week ago and was on a ventilator. He is the first doctor in the province to die of the virus.

"More than a dozen doctors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have tested positive for the coronavirus," the director said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said that he would nominate Dr Javed for a civil award in recognition of his "splendid job and unmatched sacrifice".

He offered condolences to the staff at the hospital over Dr Javed's death and announced a "special package" for the deceased doctor's family.

In a post on Twitter, the chief minister said: "Dr Javed remained in front line saving lives of our people against the disease. He set very high standards of professional pride and integrity not only for his fellow medical community but for all of us."

Spokesman for the KP government Ajmal Wazir also expressed sorrow over the doctor's death. While paying tribute to doctors, he said that they were "putting their lives at risk to save the nation from coronavirus".

'Over 50 medics infected in KP'

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Provincial Doctors Association has strongly recommended a complete lockdown in the province and separate hospitals at divisional level for those infected to contain the spread of the virus and manage active patients effectively.

Dr Amir Taj Khan, president of the provincial doctor's association, demanded a complete lockdown to enable people to stay home and enforce social distancing or else he warned the health system would collapse and all health workers would end up infected, leaving patients in lurch.

“More than 50 health workers, including 20 doctors, have tested positive for Covid-19 because of the arrival of all patients to hospitals. It would be most appropriate to have separate wards for suspected and active patients as well as quarantine centres away from the hospitals, not only to ensure their best management but to safeguard our people and health professionals from being infected,” Dr Khan said.