Railway coaches to be used once other options exhausted: Delhi Government officials
NEW DELHI: With the preparations for converting railway coaches into Covid-19 isolation facilities going on at large-scale in the national capital, officials of the Delhi Government said that coronavirus patients only with mild or very mild symptoms would be kept in train bogies if beds in other quarantine centres are not available.
About 500 railway coaches are being made available at eight city stations by the Ministry of Railways following the request of Delhi chief Arvind Kejriwal given the rise in coronavirus cases.
“Maintaining the temperature in railway coaches is a big challenge. Secondly, there is no estimate on how much medical staff we will require to depute in isolation bogies. They will be used only if other available options are exhausted. These issues were conveyed to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia during his visit to Shakur Basti Railway station recently,” said an official, privy to the matter.
Sisodia along with government officials inspected 50 isolation coaches stationed at Shakur Basti railway station on Wednesday.
The air-conditioned coaches are meant for medical staff. Officials said that due to the possibility of transmission of infection, non-AC coaches were being provided for coronavirus patients.
Initially, eight persons are likely to be kept in each coach. If there is a surge and demand increases, then a maximum of 16 people will be accommodated.
“Besides train coaches, more alternatives are being examined because, in the coming days, weather conditions in the city are set to deteriorate further. Patients with mild or very mild symptoms, who don’t require extensive medical attention, will be brought to these isolation coaches as per the requirement. Otherwise, we will prefer hotels and banquets located in proximity to the Covid designated hospitals,” said another official.
Apart from 10 Covid designated government hospitals, there are beds reserved for patients suffering from the novel virus in about 120 private medical institutions including nursing homes in the national capital.
So far, 11 luxury hotels including Taj Mansingh and Suryaa have been converted into COVID care facilities, which are attached to nearby hospitals. The government has also requisitioned about 40 hotels and banquet halls, where 3,500 beds will be available for the coronavirus patients.
“If we take over hotels and banquet halls located close to the hospitals, the operation will be easy. We will not require more medical staff and doctors to depute at COVID care centres,” said the government official.
BPRL to power largest COVID care facility
The state government is also converting Radha Soami Satsang Beas Ashram in Chhattarpur into a 10,000- bed COVID care facility, which will be attached to various hospitals. An infrastructure capable of withstanding an 18-MW load, comprising 22 km of underground cables and 20 transformers will power the facility. BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) has been tasked to readying the infrastructure.