As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, it has somewhat reminded the world of the key importance of a category of people – the health workers, who have been on the front line since the disease broke out in late December 2019.

The United Nations has described the health workers as soldiers protecting the people from a common enemy: coronavirus.

According to Chinese health officials and the World Health Organisation, over 3,000 health care workers in China alone have been infected with COVID-19. Of those workers, 14 had reportedly died, among them Doctor Li Wenliang, who was silenced by the government after publicising news of the outbreak.

In Italy, more than 11,000 medical personnel were said to have been infected while 73 doctors had died, according to the country’s Institutes of Health and the Association of Doctors.

Spain’s health workers were also said to have been contracting the COVID-19 virus at a faster rate than any other country, with around 15 per cent of its almost 125,000 total cases being doctors, nurses and other medical staff.

In Egypt, 15 medics – three doctors and 12 nurses – were reported to have tested positive for the virus while in the United Kingdom, two nurses in their 30s had died during the week after contracting the virus.

The UN had said doctors, nurses, carers and paramedics around the world were facing an unprecedented workload in overstretched health facilities, and with no end in sight.

In sub-Saharan Africa, which includes Nigeria, the UN said pressure on the health care workforce would intensify in the coming months.