Coronavirus: University of Hong Kong final-year medical students sit exams as government exempts event from ban on gatherings
- Students said they were more worried about contracting coronavirus during practical exam, in which they would have to treat patients
- Government earlier exempted the exams from the ban on gatherings as the graduation of medical students was crucial to the city’s health care system
Some 200 medical students at the University of Hong Kong sat their final-year exams on Wednesday despite the coronavirus pandemic, after the government exempted the event from a ban on gatherings of more than four people on the grounds that their graduation was crucial to the city’s health care system.
The assessment went ahead even though a survey among 174 final-year HKU medical students conducted on March 28 found more than 60 per cent of them felt it should not continue as scheduled. An overwhelming 94 per cent also believed clinical tests should be held with surrogate patients.
Some HKU students said on Wednesday that, while they agreed with the government’s decision, more precautionary measures should have been taken to prevent the possible spread of the virus.
Candidates were split into two groups of about 80 and 120 as they took the written exams at two venues on HKU’s main campus in Pok Fu Lam. All of them wore masks and sat at least two metres from each other.
The students told the Post the decision to go ahead with the exams was understandable because the government needed more doctors as soon as possible. But they also raised concerns about certain arrangements.
