Problem:
Worldwide, countries face the issue of accomodating the large volumes of coronavirus-affected patients. There is a lack of ICUs, isolation wards and hospital beds, especially in developing countries like India.
With COVID-19 cases on the rise every day, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day complete lockdown. But hospitals still cannot handle the patients coming in at current capacities.
About the businessman:
Mr Sunilkumar V, the founder and Managing Director of Asset Homes along with his team began brainstorming ideas to tackle this issue.
The first idea, being builders, was to convert buildings under construction into makeshift hospitals. This, however, posed a lot of limitations especially in terms of services, safety and security. They also considered the conversion of apartment buildings’ common areas and terraces or school buildings into hospitals. Both of these options too posed their own limitations especially in terms of sanitation which is a priority- that too in a hospital space, albeit temporary.
A plausible solution:
A novel unheard of idea that Mr Sunilkumar V put forth is to convert trains to hospitals. India, the country in question, has the world’s fourth-largest railway network and based on data currently available and a slight underestimation to give leeway for hiccups- 10 million beds can be accommodated. The company’s Chief Technical Officer Mahesh L drew up estimates and designs while Planning Assistant Manager Anukriti Singh made an impressive presentation to send out the proposal to prominent politicians, members of the Central Disaster Management Committee, journalists and to the public.
All solutions begin with a seed of an idea.
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