NEW DELHI: The Railways has produced 1.91 lakh personal protection gowns, more than 66,000 lakh hand sanitisers and 7.33 lakh masks since the coronavirus lockdown was announced in March.
The national carrier is also working to achieve its target of producing 1.5 lakh PPE coveralls each in June and July, it said in a statement.
"To further strengthen the preparedness of the Railway, an order for PPE coveralls (22 lakhs), N95 masks (22.5 lakh), hand sanitisers 500 ml (2.25 lakh) and other items was centrally placed on M/s HLL Life Care (PSU under MoHFW) when the lockdown was announced," it said.
The Ministry of Railways has designated 50 Railway Hospitals COVID dedicated hospitals and health centres.
Facilities at these hospitals have been upgraded through procurement of medical equipment and other items.
Protective gears like PPE coveralls, masks, sanitisers and equipment like ventilators were in extreme short supply globally during the initial phase of COVID-19.
The Railways has converted 5,231 railway coaches to isolation rooms for COVID-19 patients to augment the capacity of health infrastructure in the country.
So far, 960 coaches have been placed in service at several locations based on requests received from states.