The Indian Railways has started to provide isolation coaches for COVID patients to help states manage the problem of bed shortages in hospitals. The isolation coaches were also provided last year to a few states as COVID care centres.
Currently, the Railways has a fleet of about 4000 isolation coaches with a capacity of 64000 beds. With these, the national transporter is swiftly meeting the demand for isolation facilities by various state governments.
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Search IRCTC TrainsAs per the latest press release shared by the Railways, 2670 COVID care beds have been deployed at nine railway stations. These nine railway stations are across four severely affected states: Delhi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
In Delhi, 75 coaches have been provided with a combined capacity of 1200 beds. While 50 of these coaches have been stationed at the Shakurbasti railway station, the remaining 25 coaches have been placed at the Anand Vihar railway station.
In Maharashtra, 292 beds across 24 isolation coaches have been set up at the Nandurbar railway station.
In Madhya Pradesh, 20 isolation coaches have been set up at the Bhopal railway station, with a combined capacity of 292 beds.
Along with this, although not yet requested by the state government, the Railways has also positioned 50 coaches with a combined capacity of 800 beds at five railway stations in Uttar Pradesh: Faizabad, Bhadohi, Varanasi, Bareilly and Nazibabad.
Facilities in isolation coaches
These isolation coaches for COVID patients have been divided into eight ‘cabins’, with each cabin having 16 beds. Every coach has three toilets and a bathroom. The coaches are also equipped with mosquito nets, power sockets and oxygen cylinders. Space has also been created to hold IV fluid bottles and clamps have been provided to hang them.
To deal with the hot weather conditions, these coaches have additionally been fitted with coolers and jute-mats:
कोविड महामारी के विरुद्ध लड़ाई में भारतीय रेल अपनी भागीदारी निभाते हुए मध्यप्रदेश के भोपाल में 20 कोविड केयर कोचेस बनाए हैं।
यहां स्वच्छता के साथ ही डॉक्टर्स व रोगियों के लिए सुविधाओं सहित 320 आइसोलेशन बेड की व्यवस्था है, जो आज राज्य सरकार को सौंप दिए जायेंगे। pic.twitter.com/jctZM0Ymor
— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) April 25, 2021
The national transporter has further shared that all the coaches are seeing a steady intake of patients and their subsequent discharge. All efforts are being made to maintain hygiene and provide healthy catering arrangements to the patients in these coaches.
We advise our readers to follow all COVID-safety precautions to stay safe.
Featured image credits: Ministry of Railways official Twitter handle
