The Indian Railways is working on a war footing to modify as many as 20,000 train coaches into patient isolation wards to bolster the country’s limited healthcare infrastructure amid the rapid spread of covid-19.
These modified coaches will be able to accommodate up to 320,000 beds for isolation or quarantine needs, an official statement said on Tuesday.
Work on modifying an initial 5,000 coaches across 16 railway zones has begun. A single coach will be able to accommodate as many as 16 patients.
A senior government official told Mint that a large number of coaches, along with spare trains, can be used at a time when passenger trains have been suspended as part of a general lockdown.
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