THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The surge in Covid-19 cases in the state has forced the government to reach out to the Railways for allotment of its Covid Care Coaches (CCC) for treating positive cases. In a decision taken on Tuesday, the health department appointed a nodal officer for coordinating with the railway authorities, especially with the divisional railway managers of Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad. While a total of 60 CCCs are with the Thiruvananthapuram division, 32 CCCs are with the Palakkad division.
"If we have community transmission and a large number of people will have to get admitted, CCCs will be of great help. But these will be used only if the facilities of the state or of a particular area get overwhelmed. At present, there is no such condition in the state. However, it has been decided to reach out to the Railways to ensure that such a facility is there on standby," said an officer of the health department.
In May, the Union Health Ministry had informed the states/UTs that as part of the 'Whole of Government Approach' for responding to Covid-19 emergency, the Ministry of Railways would make arrangements for the conversion of 5,000 railway coaches into CCCs and the special train coaches are to be used for very mild/mild cases that can be clinically assigned to the Covid Care Centres.
According to the state health department, going by the current trend of people testing positive and the projections, there is a chance that the facilities in some areas might get exhausted.
These coaches can be used to augment capacities for isolation of both the suspect and confirmed cases.
At the same time, the Railways has said if the state is in need of CCCs, it will have to approach the Railway Board first and, through them, necessary directions will be given for allotment of coaches.
"Once we get the direction, the CCCs will arrive in a particular area within three hours. These are non-AC coaches and have all facilities of a ward including provision for setting up oxygen cylinders," said an official of Thiruvananthapuram railway division.
The CCC is part of the integrated Covid plan developed by the Health Ministry and NITI Ayog and are normally to be used when state facilities are overwhelmed.
It was also stipulated that the facility should be well ventilated with adequate scope for natural lighting. The CCCs are in use in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana Madhya Pradesh and some other states.
The nodal officer appointed by the state for coordinating with the Railways is IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman, who got reinstated into the service as joint secretary, health, after the controversial drunken driving accident that caused the death of journalist K M Basheer in Thiruvananthapuram in August 2019.