Pakistan lost yet another one of its soldiers in Monday’s fight against the novel coronavirus. Dr Abdul Qadir Soomro was struggling for his life at the Indus Hospital.

Dr Soomro, a skin specialist and physicist, was one of the frontline people who helped the country battle the deadly pandemic. He was the administrator of a charity hospital run by the Al-Khidmat Foundation.

The 64-year-old was shifted to the Indus Hospital on April 1 after his health deteriorated, where he tested positive for COVID-19. He was a victim of blood pressure and diabetes, according to doctors.

The doctor hailed from Shikarpur but was a resident of Gulshan-e-Hadid in Karachi. In 1981, he completed his MBBS at Chandka Medical College, and later earned his PhD.

Dr Soomro was a former Pakistan Steel Mills Chief Medical Officer and also served as the chairman of the Islamic Medical Association, Sindh.

He was laid to rest in Karachi, and left a wife and son behind him. Dr Soomro is the country’s third doctor who succumbed to the virus.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah paid his condolences on the doctor’s demise. “Doctors are the first line of defence in this pandemic,” he said.

The greatest tribute we can pay to this hero is by battling the deadly virus steadfastly, Shah added.