COVID-19 Isolation Rooms – COVID-19 Action Program By Earth5R

Mumbai: The growing number of COVID-19 cases in India and around the world prompted Saurabh Gupta, founder of Earth5R, to go beyond the relief effort. Gupta stressed on the need to have a scientific approach to the relief effort.

This is why the idea to create fixed as well as movable isolation rooms came to his mind. Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Gupta added, “We have developed a technologically-driven isolation room which is ready to be deployed. There are two types of isolation rooms designed — movable and immovable.”

Gupta, who is working with a local partner to build the prototype, is optimistic that within a months’ time around 400-500 isolation rooms can be built. He claimed that the number of rooms can be scaled up further depending on manpower available. Other than funds, the biggest requirement for these rooms will be open space.

Most of the material used in this setup can be sourced locally, he claimed. “The rooms are created in such a way that it is well ventilated and at the same time, medical staff remains safe in case any of the isolated individuals are infected,” added Gupta.

At present, Mumbai-based Earth5R is looking at working with companies and governments to deploy these rooms. When asked about the cost of the product, Gupta, a social entrepreneur said, “We are still in talks with governments and institutions.

So, it will not be right to reveal the pricing.” While some basic features in all isolation rooms will be the same, the size of some rooms will differ based on the demand and that is expected to impact the pricing of the rooms, added Gupta.

Gupta along with a group of mechanical engineering, have been working on this for over a month and half. “As soon as we saw the situation in Wuhan in China, we realised there is a need for such rooms. Later, when COVID-19 started spreading to other countries in the world, we started the work on the prototype.”

Earth5R is a global environmental organisation, which focuses on environmental protection and sustainable development of communities through education and action. “We are running our sustainability projects in 53 countries and hundreds of cities around the globe.

So, we can supply these isolation rooms around the world with help of our local partners,” revealed Gupta. Other than designing isolation rooms, Earth5R’s mental health expert volunteers are conducting training on mental health.

Original story published in Free Press Journal