Matt Hancock has paid an emotional tribute to NHS staff, including Leigh GP Dr Habib Zaidi, who have lost their lives to coronavirus.

The Health Secretary said the country salutes those who have "paid the ultimate price for their service", as he expressed his "deepest condolences" to the friends and families of all Covid-19 victims.

>> MP Sir David pays his own touching  tribute to Dr Zaidi

>> Coronavirus killed Leigh GP

At least five frontline workers are known to have died in the UK after suffering coronavirus symptoms.

They include Thomas Harvey, a 57-year-old nurse who worked in Ilford, east London; Dr Alfa Saadu, 68, a retired NHS doctor who worked part-time at a hospital in Welwyn, Hertfordshire; and surgeon Amged El-Hawrani, 55, who died in Leicester.

Dr Habib Zaidi, 76, a GP, died in Southend, Essex last week, and Dr Adil El Tayar, an organ transplant consultant volunteering for the NHS, died in Isleworth, west London.

Speaking at the daily Downing Street press conference, Mr Hancock said: "If the past few weeks have shown us anything, it's that we are steadfast as a country in our resolve to defeat this invisible killer.

"I am profoundly moved by the compassion and the commitment that we are seeing from people right across the country, and in the health and care system we have lost colleagues too.

"Doctors, nurses, mental health professionals: they have paid the ultimate price for their service - working to care for others.

"I just want to say this on behalf of all my colleagues in health and social care: I am awed by the dedication of colleagues on the frontline, every single person, who contributes to the running of this diverse and caring institution that our nation holds so dear.

"Many of those who have died who are from the NHS were people who came to this country to make a difference, and they did, and they've given their lives in sacrifice, and we salute them."

Mr Hancock, who tested positive for coronavirus last week and was in self-isolation until Thursday, said he came back "redoubled in my determination to fight this virus with everything I've got".

"And we will strain every sinew to defeat it once and for all," he said.

"And I will stop at nothing to make sure that frontline staff have the right equipment so that they are safe and can have the confidence they need to do their jobs."