Maharashtra CM urges PM's intervention to postpone final year MD/MS exam till December

On Wednesday, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to direct the Medical Council of India to postpone the medical final year postgraduate exams till December 2020. Mentioning that the final year MD/MS exam is conducted in the month of May or June by the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik, he stated that it had been postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thackeray added that the Board of Directors of the MCI had issued an advisory to all universities to complete these exams by June 30, 2020. 

Pursuant to the advisory, the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences proposed to the state government that these exams should be held from July 15 onwards. However, Thackeray revealed that the final year resident doctors required to take these exams are presently working on the frontline in all municipal and government hospitals assisting the clinical management of COVID-19 patients. According to the Maharashtra CM, there would be a serious shortage of doctors during this crucial period if the exams are held as per schedule. Moreover, he also requested the entrance exam for DM/MCh to be scheduled after the conclusion of the final year MD/MS exam.

Read: Coronavirus Live Updates: Lockdown Extended In West Bengal Till July 31; Cases At 4,56,183

Read: 1,144 Fresh COVID-19 Cases Reported In Mumbai; 2,434 Patients Recover In A Day

3890 cases in Maharashtra

208 deaths and 3890 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Maharashtra on Wednesday. The total number of positive cases in the state is now 1,42,900, while 6739 fatalities have been reported so far. With 4161 patients being discharged in the day, the number of recovered soared to 73,792. The recovery rate in the state is 51.64%.

Read: West Bengal: Lockdown Extended Till July 31, Fresh Relaxations To Be Announced

COVID-19 crisis in India

Currently, there are 4,56,183 confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India out of which 2,58,685 patients have been recovered while 14,476 fatalities have been reported. For the first time, over 2 lakh samples were tested in a 24-hour period. 2,15,195 samples were tested for COVID-19 on Tuesday. So far, 73,52,911 samples have been tested for the novel coronavirus in 730 government labs and 270 private labs across the country. With 10,495 COVID-19 cases, India's recovery rate surged to 56.71%. At present, there are 1,83,022 active COVID-19 cases in India. 

Read: Odisha To Conduct COVID-19 Tests For 5,000 People Associated With Rath Yatra