PATNA: Altogether 170 railway employees, including doctors, have tested positive for Covid-19 in Danapur division alone. Most of them have been deployed at Danapur,
Patna Junction,
Rajendra Nagar terminal and Patliputra Junction.
Danapur divisional railway manager (DRM) Sunil Kumar said on Saturday that some of the passengers coming by special trains from
Maharashtra every day have
Covid. Till now, 311 positive cases among passengers have been reported in the division during the past one week, including 43 in the past 24 hours at Patna Junction.
The DRM said several senior railway officials, doctors and employees are literally battling for survival in hospitals. “At least two railway employees died of Covid-19,” he said, adding non-availability of beds in the ICU and oxygen in a few
hospitals in Patna are a matter of concern.
According to the DRM, at least 11 railways doctors from Danapur divisional railway hospital and railway superspecialty hospital at
Karbigahiya have tested positive. “If such an alarming situation continues, it is a great challenge for railways to deal with the situation effectively with the limited resources,” he said, adding that doctors have a direct interface with passengers and patients during their health check-up either on platforms or at the outpatient department (OPD) in the hospitals.
Besides, railways has reduced workforce at its offices. Railway employees of the division have been asked to work from home and keep in touch with their branch officials concerned. However, frontline staff, including operating, commercial and security personnel, will continue to work as usual with full precautionary measures, the DRM said.