BENGALURU: To cope with the surge in COVID cases among railway staffers, retired employees and their families, the Railway Hospital located behind the KSR Railway Station, a designated COVID health care centre, is undergoing a major upgrade. Two tankers that can store oxygen supplied from a liquid oxygen plant are in the process of being readied.
Asked for figures, Divisional Railway Manager of Bengaluru Ashok Kumar Verma said, “We have tested nearly 5,000 of our staffers and 1,000 of them have tested positive. 210 of them are still active with 85 in the Railway Hospital and the rest in home isolation.”
There have been a total of 25 deaths in the Bengaluru Division due to COVID with ten of them present employees, eight former staff and seven family members of both sections, he added. “In Krishnarajapuram loco shed alone, we had 32 staffers testing positive after we carried out tests with the assistance of the BBMP Health department after one staffer tested positive,” the DRM added.
The Railway COVID Hospital now has 40 beds in ward, 14 ICU beds, 4/7 ambulance services, radiology and laboratory services. A critical care team of doctors for ICU patients apart from nurses, lab technicians and radiologists have been hired recently on a contract basis to assist treatment of COVID patients.
A railway source said the hospital presently uses oxygen cylinders for its patients and has sufficient stocks of it. “The oxygen plant will be readied within a month’s time. It will supply oxygen to our tankers. All our ICU beds are occupied presently,” he said.
Deputy General Manager and Chief Public Relations Officer of South Western Railway E Vijaya told The New Indian Express, “Daily around 40 RT PCR tests are being done and samples are sent to government labs for reporting. Rapid antigen tests are also done for all symptomatic persons. In addition, camps for rapid antigen testing in various units of Bangalore Division are done to detect new COVID cases.” She added, “For patients who are in home isolation, health inspectors have been nominated to check on their health on a daily basis.”
Until October 11, South Western Railway has reported 95 deaths of present and past staffers and their families in Hubballi, Mysuru and Bengaluru Divisions, reveals the COVID bulletin released by the zone on Sunday. A total of 2302 COVID cases have been reported across the zone with 265 of them still active.