AIIMS holds entrance exams for various courses amid COVID-19 guidelines

New Delhi: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Friday said over 33,000 candidates appeared for entrance exams for various courses that have been held in strict compliance with the COVID-19 guidelines of the central government.

A total of 33,491 candidates appeared for the entrance examinations for MD, MS, MDS, DM, CH, fellowship, BSc-postbasic, MSc Nursing courses which were successfully held across all the states and four Union Territories on Thursday, it said.

Measures to ensure social distancing norms -- such as staggered entry and alternative seating with reduced seating density -- were implemented in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the AIIMS said in a statement.

Additional measures such as temperature scanning, compulsory use of masks, hand-sanitization at multiple points and near-zero contact between candidates and staff at the exam centres were implemented, the premier institute said.

Innovative digital technologies were used for candidate registration and verification. The supervision of the examination was done by faculty from medical colleges and institutes in the region, according to the statement.

The whole process was monitored by AIIMS faculty via live streaming of CCTV footage from all centres.

To minimize the travel needs of the candidates, the number of cities was increased from 60 to 157 with at least one centre in every state. On the basis of choices made by candidates, more than 97 per cent of them were allocated the city of their choice or within 100 km, the institute said.

The start time of examination was changed from 9 am to 1 pm to provide adequate morning hours for travel," the statement said.