ECR to set up Covid care centres at 15 railway stations in Bihar

PATNA: The East Central Railway (ECR) has decided to set up Covid care centres at 15 stations under its jurisdiction to provide proper medical facilities to corona patients during isolation period. These stations are Patna Junction, Barauni, Darbhanga, Jayanagar, Muzaffarpur, Narkatiaganj, Raxaul, Saharsa, Samastipur, Sitamarhi, Sonepur, Jamalpur, Chhapra, Siwan and Katihar.
ECR’s chief public relations officer (CPRO) Rajesh Kumar said on Sunday that railways has already converted 269 sleeper coaches into isolation wards in Bihar. Railways will place these converted coaches at the 15 stations as the Covid care centres. Railways intends to hand over these coaches soon to the district administration concerned, he said.
With spurt in the Covid cases in Bihar, railway hospitals under the ECR jurisdiction have been put on high alert. Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have sought details about preparedness in the railway hospitals located at Danapur, Pt Deendayal Upadhyay Jn, Dhanbad, Sonepur, Samastipur and superspecialty hospital at Karbighaiya in Patna, the CPRO said.
Railways has kept its multistorey superspecialty hospital in complete readiness. Railways has also provided 2066 surgical masks, 340 N-95 masks, 800 sanitiser bottles, 65 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, six ventilators and 25 oxygen gas cylinders to this superspecialty hospital for corona patients, he said.
Danapur divisional railway hospital at Khagaul, which is designated for Covid-19 patients, has been provided with 2750 surgical masks, 825 N-95 masks, 600 sanitiser bottles, 1025 PPE kits, 27 ventilators, 80 oxygen cylinders and 20 infrared thermometers, he said.
Similarly, railways has ensured the availability of 7300 surgical masks, 725 N-95 masks, 1200 bottles of sanitisers, 580 PPE kits, 10 ventilators, 34 oxygen cylinders and six infrared thermometers at its Sonepur hospital while Samastipur divisional railway hospital is now equipped with 6,442 surgical masks, 1,539 N-95 masks, 3600 sanitiser bottles, 195 PPE kits, three ventilators, 30 oxygen cylinders and seven infrared thermometers, the CPRO said.
Pt Deendayal Upadhaya railway hospital in UP has been provided with 13000 surgical masks, 14000 N-95 masks, 3290 sanitiser bottles, 756 PPE kits, 10 ventilators, 65 oxygen cylinders and 129 infrared thermometers. Besides, railways has equipped its Dhanbad hospital with 4000 surgical masks, 6000 N-95 masks, 823 bottles of sanitizers, 530 PPE kits, four ventilators, 12 oxygen cylinders and 13 infrared thermometers, he added.