New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) Northern Railway has converted 16 passenger coaches into isolation wards as part of the efforts to strengthen healthcare amid the novel coronavirus scare.

Northern Railway spokesperson Deepak Kumar said: "In its continuous effort to fight against COVID-19, all NR workshops have been geared up. Till now, 16 LHB coaches have been converted to function as isolation wards for suspected cornavirus patients. Two rakes, i.e. 20 LHB converted isolation non-AC coaches, will be ready by March 31 evening."

He said that by Tuesday two ICF coaches available at Alambagh workshop will be converted into isolation coach. He said one rake of 10 coaches will be converted into isolation facility within a week.

"Northern Railway is in touch with respective state governments for better co-ordination in our fight against coronavirus," he said.

Kumar said that production of sanitizers, face masks, coveralls or aprons was in full swing at the Northern Railway workshops, with a capacity to manufacture 700 litres of sanitizer daily.

Kumar also said that two Northern Railway Coach Workshops are geared up to manufacture 700 face masks per day, adding that 1,600 face masks have been so far manufactured by Northern Railway.

Similarly, the Northern Railway has prepared the prototype of coveralls or aprons for medical staff.

He said sufficient raw material was provided to the workshops at Jagadhari and Alambagh on Sunday to manufacture 20 coveralls or apron per day over the next three days.

The railways has suspended production at all its units and workshops and instead begun to make medical beds, IV stands, face masks, sanitisers, aprons and other medical equipment to meet the demand for such items to fight coronavirus. On Monday, the total number of coronavirus positive patients in India rose to 1,071, with 29 deaths.

--IANS aks/tsb