Railways' COVID care coaches surpass 500 admissions

The Railways' coaches for isolation of COVID-19 patients at different railway stations in three states have admitted more than 500 patients, with 12 fresh admissions on Wednesday, according to data compiled by the national transporter.

The Railways which has deployed 813 coaches at 36 stations across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, has so far admitted 508 patients out of which 406 have already been discharged. The remaining 102 patients are admitted at Shakurbasti Station in Delhi.

As of now, 503 coaches have been stationed at 10 railway stations in Delhi, 270 coaches at 10 stations in Uttar Pradesh and 40 coaches at one station in Bihar.

These modified railway coaches can be used for admitting very mild cases that can be clinically assigned to the COVID care centres, according to the guidelines released by the ministry of health and family welfare.

These are the first of the 5,321 coaches which have been converted to isolation wards by the railways for the treatment of coronavirus patients.

The train coaches have all the necessary medical equipment such as oxygen cylinders, blankets, medical supplies, sterilized berths for the safety and convenience of the individuals placed in isolation.

They are equipped with mosquito nets, charging points for laptop and phones. The toilets have also been modified into bathrooms. In the three states, a cumulative of 12,472 beds are available in these coaches.

India's COVID-19 tally went past 15 lakh on Wednesday, two days after it crossed the 14-lakh mark, with 48,513 fresh cases recorded in a day while the recoveries surged to 9,88,029, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The total coronavirus cases climbed to 15,31,669, while the country's death toll due to the disease rose to 34,193 with 768 deaths being reported in a 24-hour span, the data updated at 8 am showed.

There are 5,09,447 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country presently. The recovery rate among COVID-19 patients has risen to 64.51 per cent.

(Photo Credit: PTI)