A 29-year-old female doctor died on February 23 after contracting the coronavirus while treating patients at a hospital in China's worst-hit Wuhan city, taking the death toll of the medical staff to 10, according to a media report.

Xia Sisi, a gastroenterology physician got infected while working at the Union Jiangbei Hospital of Wuhan in Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus. She was hospitalised on January 19 and later transferred to Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University on February 7 after her condition worsened. She died on Sunday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The Union Jiangbei Hospital mourned the death of Xia and expressed condolences for her family.

The Chinese medical staff, who are on the frontline fighting the COVID-19, are paying a heavy price in treating the surging number of cases. China's National Health Commission earlier said that a total of 1,716 medical workers had contracted the infection as of February 11. Xia's death takes the death toll among the medical staff to 10. On February 20, Peng Yinhua (29), who postponed his wedding to treat patients infected with the coronavirus, died.

Earlier, Li Wenliang, a 34-year-old doctor, who was one of the first people to sound the alarm about the new outbreak died on February 7. Li sent a message to his medical-school alumni group on December 30, warning that seven patients had been quarantined at Wuhan Central Hospital after suffering from respiratory illness that seemed like the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Liu Zhiming, head of the Wuchang Hospital too died due to the virus. Liu Fan, a senior nurse of the hospital, also died along with her parents and brother from the disease. Ninety-seven more people died in China due to coronavirus, taking the death toll to 2,442, while the confirmed cases rose to 76,936, officials said on Sunday.