As India is undergoing the worst side of the Covid-19 pandemic with the onset of second wave, the Railways have taken their own step towards helping the country in these difficult times by converting around 4,000 train coaches to Covid-care units with around 64,000 beds which will be available for use by the states. Presently, a count of 169 coaches have been handed over to several states for Covid care, according to the Union Ministry of Railways on Tuesday.
Union Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal has posted on Twitter about the development and placement of Covid-19 coaches for various stations as per the requirement of different states, Goyal further released a video which depicted the coaches, with the required amenities for Covid-19 like beds and oxygen for treatment.
Indian Railways revealed that it has provided completely for the demands of the Delhi Government with 75 Covid care coaches having a bed capacity of 1,200. From the 75 coaches, 50 were placed at Shakurbasti and 25 at Anand Vihar stations, as per the information given by the Ministry. Delhi, presently is combating with severe shortage of medical amenities in the fight against Covid-19 and hospitals have been report to have lack of Remdesivir, ICU beds and medical oxygen.
The Railways revealed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been formalized between the Divisional Railway Manager of Nagpur and Commissioner of Nagpur Municipal Corporation for meeting the new demands of the coaches as an initiative towards Maharashtra which is the worst affected among the pandemic.
In a statement, Railways said, “Accordingly, the Railways will deploy the Covid care rake with 11 coaches, comprising of modified sleepers with each coach having the capacity to accommodate 16 patients. The coaches will be equipped with the necessary medical infrastructure by the state health authorities with the Railways devising segmentation of space and utility for medical personnel in line with the MoU, besides taking care of sanitation and catering arrangements.”
It further stated the isolation beds at the Ajni ICD area will also be mobilised for further meeting the state demands. The facility curated by the Railways for the state of Maharashtra, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh have taken up 98 admissions, along with 28 subsequent discharges. The railways have recorded 17 admissions, and six discharges and in the current scenario, 70 patients are utilizing the isolation coaches facility.
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