NEET PG exams put off as virus tally over 2 lakh in 1 day

Due to the spike in number of Covid-19 cases, the National Eligibility-CumEntrance Test (postgraduate), which was scheduled to be held on April 18, has been postponed, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said on Thursday. The decision was taken keeping the well-being of the young medical students in mind, he added.

“In light of the surge in #COVID19 cases, GoI has decided to postpone #NEETPG2021 exam which was earlier scheduled to be held on Apr 18. Next date to be decided later. Decision has been taken keeping wellbeing of our young medical students in mind,” Vardhan said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, with several states reporting shortage of medical oxygen, an inter-ministerial empowered group of Central government officers initiated actions to address shortage and panic. The government has decided to import 50,000 MT of medical oxygen to address the shortage as the empowered group initiated mapping of 12 high burden states to oxygen sources. Reliance Industries and BPCL have diverted oxygen from their refineries to the government hospitals, free of cost.

India on Thursday registered over two lakh fresh cases of Covid-19 with over 1,038 deaths.

According to Union health ministry officials, Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh are among the states where double mutant strain — coded as B.1.617 — of the Covid virus has been found. Experts believe this double mutant variant could be the main reason for rapid spread of Covid under the new wave.