The percentage of fellow doctors signing contracts with the so-called “Big Five” hospitals in the capital region surpassed 70 percent amid the protracted collective action by trainee doctors. 

According to the health ministry on Friday, the percentage reached 70-point-one percent on Monday to climb above 70 percent for the first time since the government and the medical community clashed over the plan to increase the medical school admissions quota.

Out of one-thousand-212 eligible fellow doctors, 850 or 70-point-one percent had signed contracts with the hospitals as of Monday, with the figure rising to 70-point-four percent on Tuesday. 

The number stood at 33-point-nine percent on February 29 as fellow doctors joined the collective action led by junior doctors, but the percentage steadily increased and has since more than doubled. 

Meanwhile, the percentage of fellow doctors who have signed contracts with 100 teaching hospitals nationwide reached 67-point-three percent as of Tuesday.