Death Of A Migrant Worker Travelling From COVID-19 Red Zone On Shramik Train Triggers Concerns
The Indian Railways has been running Shramik Special trains for over a week and since Tuesday regular trains to selected cities.The resumption of trains came as a relief for millions of people who were left stranded across the country due to the lockdown.?
But several questions are being raised about the decision to resume train services at a time when the COVID-19 infections are growing at an alarming pace.Many argue that the trains running without proper testing and social distancing onboard could be a recipe for disaster.?
The fear is that asymptomatic or people who have the infection, but the virus is still in incubation could unknowingly transmit COVID-19 to fellow passengers.
There is also a fear that due to the lack of proper screenings, the virus cold be transmitted to the interiors, which could have disastrous consequences.?
On Monday, there was a major concern after a 4-year-old migrant worker died on board a Pune-Prayagraj Shramik Special train.?
Akhilesh Kumar, who used to work at a hotel in Pune, was returning to his hometown in Gonda in Uttar Pradesh. He died during the journey and the body was taken off the train at Majhgawan in Satna district, the officials said.
"The migrant worker died on the Pune-Prayagraj special train and his body was attended to in Madhya Pradesh.A post-mortem has been conducted," RPF DG Arun Kumar confirmed.?
He said there was no confirmation yet on whether the migrant had tested positive for coronavirus.While the post mortem result is awaited the possible spread of COVID-19 onboard trains is something that many health experts had warned about.?
On Tuesday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed concern over operating air-conditioned trains between New Delhi and Kerala. Carrying large numbers of people in AC trains will increase the risk of Covid-19 transmission, it pointed out.?
Vijayan said the state government has written to the Union railway ministry urging it to operate only sleeper coaches.?
“There is a high risk of transmitting the disease in air-conditioned compartments and several such instances have been reported in the country. Hence we have requested that AC compartments be avoided,’’ the CM said.
In Punjab, of the 4,198 people who travelled in AC buses, 1,217 contracted the virus. The transmission occurred during the travel. Hence, it is most advisable to avoid travel in AC coaches, he said.?
Another major concern is the lack of clarity on the protocol to deal with passengers arriving on these trains.It has been left to the states to decide and many of them including Kerala, Goa, and Assam have decided to test every arriving passenger.?
The Delhi government on Tuesday issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the screening of passengers arriving to the city from outside in special trains.In an order, the Delhi Health Department said only asymptomatic persons coming to the national capital would be allowed to go home. For passengers found symptomatic, the standard protocol for testing and quarantine shall be followed, it said.
