With COVID-19 wreaking havoc on our world, we¡¯ve seen innovation like never before.?
From new and innovative face mask designs to making effective vaccines that would work against the novel coronavirus, we¡¯ve seen it all, but this takes it to a whole new level.
Reported first by Associated Press, a Columbian advertising company from Bogota is pitching a rather dark solution to combatting shortage of hospital beds during times of COVID-19 -- by turning them into makeshift caskets if the patient doesn¡¯t survive COVID-19.
The beds are designed by ABC Displays and are made entirely of cardboard with metal railings to the side for added structural strength.?
The bed is able to withstand a weight of 150 kilograms and costs around Rs 6,600.
Company manager Rodolfo Gomez thought of this idea after it witnessed the plight of people in Ecuador, where families in the coastal city of Guayaquil were waiting to get caskets to perform the last rituals on their family members. Many weren¡¯t even in a position to afford a wooden coffin and were relying on cardboard boxes instead.
This bed would also help in eliminating people coming in contact with the infected body and minimising the risk of contracting COVID-19.
G¨®mez said he plans to donate 10 of his new beds to Colombia¡¯s Amazonas department, where the resources aren¡¯t abundant. There is no information on any orders that have been placed as of now.
This comes at a time when Columbia is trying its best to take control of the cases of the novel coronavirus. Today, it has over 15,000 active cases with 574 people who¡¯ve lost their lives due to the coronavirus.
This, however, isn¡¯t the first cardboard bed that was made for COVID-19 times. In India, we saw, Aryan Paper Group from Vapi, Gujarat, develop their own version of a cardboard bed that costs just around Rs 999 and easily withstand weight up to 200 kilograms while weighing just under 10 kilograms.