Achieving a major breakthrough in the fight against COVID-19 outbreak, the Indian Railways has turned around 5231 non-AC train coaches in COVID care centres. The transformation of railway coaches into COVID care centres is being done in order to meet the increasing requirement of beds in various states as the number of patients witness a spike in the country.
As per the instructions of the Ministry of Health and Family Affair, patients recognized to fall under the mild or very mild category will be treated at these COVID care centres. Moreover, the COVID care centres are only to be used by state governments when the health facility in the state is exhausted.
These special coaches will be well-equipped with all the necessary machines and will be needed to parked adjacent to the railway platform in order to combat emergency situations easily.
The official statement from the railway authorities mentioned that despite the rising temperature, AC coaches are not being taken in use as they have more risk of virus transmission. In order to make the non-AC train coaches turned COVID care centres, various measures have been undertaken.
The primary measures adopted by the Indian railways to ensure proper ventilation and cooling in these coaches can be defined as:
• Usage if Cover sheets (White Canat) or Suitable Material
• Wrapping the coaches with Bubble wrap films
• Covering the roof with heat reflective paint
• Trials of placing portable coolers in the coaches
• Trials with water mist systems
The Indian Railways has already started supplying these special COVID care centres to various states on the basis of requirements proposed by the states. Till now, the Indian Railways has deployed 960 COVID care coaches to 5 states including the likes of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.