 Toeplitz index theorem for continuous symbols

On the Hardy space of the circle, a continuous symbol gives a Fredholm Toeplitz operator exactly when it never vanishes. Nonvanishing gives a parametrix $T_{1/f}$ modulo compact semicommutators. Write $f(z)=z^n{e}^{h(z)}$, where $n$ is its counterclockwise winding number and $h$ is continuous. Homotopy through nonvanishing symbols and local constancy of the Fredholm index reduce the index to that of the shift $T_{z^n}$, namely $-n$. If $f$ vanishes at a point, normalized Hardy reproducing kernels concentrating there are weakly null unit vectors on which $T_f$ tends to zero, contradicting a Fredholm parametrix.