In wake of the scarcity of beds amid a spike in coronavirus cases, Indian Railways has converted 20 coaches into the COVID-19 care centre in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal, which will have 320 beds, informed Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday. He further said that these coaches will start functioning from Sunday.
On Twitter, Goyal wrote, "In Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, 20 Covid Care Coaches have been arranged by the Indian Railways, which will have 320 beds. These coaches will start functioning from April 25."
Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had assured Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan that the army hospitals in the state will be opened for the public during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Indian Railways has converted 4,002 train coaches as a COVID-19 care-cum-isolation facility to provide assistance to state governments amid surging coronavirus cases in the country. Additionally, as some states are facing scarcity of medical oxygen amid surging COVID-19 cases in the country, railways is transporting Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) and oxygen cylinders across the key corridors.
India recorded 3,46,786 new coronavirus cases, the highest single-day spike since the pandemic broke out last year. According to the official data issued by the Union Health Ministry, the country has recorded 2,624 new deaths due to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.
The country's total infection count has mounted to 1,66,10,481 cases. While 1,89,544 people have succumbed to the viral infection so far. Currently, there are 25,52,940 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, said the official data of the ministry. As many as 1,38,67,997 recoveries reported so far, out of which 2,19,838 reported in the last 24 hours. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 27,61,99,222 samples tested for COVID-19 up to April 23. Of these, 17,53,569 tested yesterday. Meanwhile, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered in the country stands at 13,83,79,832.
