Covid-19 care rail coaches in Delhi receive first patient

Almost a week after the Indian Railways provided 503 isolation ward coaches for Covid-19 patients in the national capital, first patient arrived at the Shakur Basti railway station, here on Wednesday.

"First patient arrived at Shakur Basti Covid Care Center of Railways in New Delhi. We are committed to provide all necessary help in this fight against Covid-19," Railway Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted.

He also attached pictures of the patient arriving at the railway station in an ambulance and the isolation ward coaches with the tweet.

The isolation ward coaches in Delhi could receive 14-15 more Covid-19 patients during the day, said Railway Ministry officials.

The railways, which has readied 5,231 isolation ward coaches, received the first patient at Mau in UP on June 20. Within three days, 59 patients were admitted. Of this, eight were discharged on Monday.

The Covid isolation coaches are meant to be used in case of shortage of the health infrastructure due to the sudden spike in cases.

The national capital has been witnessing a spike of Covid-19 cases. On Tuesday, Delhi reported 3,947 new cases, taking the Covid-19 tally to 66,602. Coronavirus has claimed 2,301 lives.

According to Railway Ministry officials, of 960 isolation ward coaches, 503 have been deployed in Delhi, 20 in Andhra Pradesh, 60 in Telangana, 372 in UP and five in MP.

Earlier, Northern Railway General Manager Rajiv Chaudhary said, "In Delhi, these coaches are stationed at nine locations." 50 isolation ward coaches are deployed at Shakurbasti, 267 at Anand Vihar, 21 at Safdarjung, 50 at Sarai Rohilla, 33 at Delhi Cantt, 30 at Adarsh Nagar, 13 at Shahadra, 13 at Tughlakabad and 26 at Patel Nagar.

Adequate arrangement for cooling of the sleeper isolation ward coaches had been made, given the scorching summer heat of the national capital, he added.

The official said in UP 372 isolation ward coaches had been deployed at 23 different locations. They are Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Lucknow, Varanasi, Bhadohi, Faizabad, Saharanpur, Mirzapur, Subedarganj, Kanpur, Jhansi, Jhansi Workshop, Agra, Nakha Jungle, Gonda, Nautanwa, Bahraich, Varanasi City, Manduadih, Mau, Bhatni, Bareilly City, Farrukhabad and Kasganj railway stations.

In MP, five isolation ward coaches have been deployed at Gwalior. In Andhra Pradesh, the coaches have been deployed at Vijayawada and in Telangana, at three different locations -- Secunderabad, Kachguda and Adilabad railway stations.