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As the world faces over 8.5 lakh confirmed cases of Covid-19 and at least 42,100 deaths, India has reached a total of 1400 officially reported active cases throughout the country. The Union Health Minister has reported the death count to be 35 as of today. In this regard, innovative ways and out-of-the-box measures have been taken globally alongside lockdowns to prevent further spread and put in effort to fight against the pandemic.
In a bid to tackle the situation, the Indian Railways has introduced hospital isolation coaches for affected patients, as the Government is running out of space to admit them to hospitals. As of 1st April, 2020, they have made a prototype of an isolation ward for Covid-19 patients by converting non-airconditioned train coaches. The feasibility study involves creating isolation and in regard to this, the middle berth from one side of the cabin and all three berths from the other side have been removed in sleeper coaches to create more space for patients. The ladders to climb up to berths have also been removed. The lower portions have been plugged with plywood. Further, the cabins have been partitioned from the aisle side. 220 volts electrical points have been inserted in place, in each compartment, to attach medical equipment such as ventilators. The toilets in each coach have been modified into bathrooms. Each coach is said to have 10 cabins and these coaches will be sent to hinterland. Each railway zone is said to manufacture a rake with 10 coaches every week. A Nurse’s Cabin has also been attached to each train.
While further fine-tuning its plans, it has suggested to offer 20,000 coaches to be converted and stated that these coaches can accommodate up to 3.2 lakh possible bed upon modifications. It has designated targets for all the 16 zones, while the South Central Railways at Secunderabad as headquarters leads the pack with 486 coaches being allocated for conversion which is followed by the Mumbai Central Railways, as headquarter being allocated 482 coaches. The work on modifying 5000 coaches has already begun. These 500 coaches have a capacity of accommodating up to 80,000 beds. A single coach is expected to carry 16 beds for isolation.
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