A businessman from Colombia has designed a hospital bed that can be converted into a coffin if the patient dies. The new design was made after noticing the rise in coronavirus deaths and families waiting on streets to conduct burials due to a lack of coffins during the pandemic.
Rodolfo Gomez, a Colombian businessman running ABC Displays company, has designed the multi-purpose beds. These are mainly for use in hospitals and are called cardboard bed-coffins.
The beds are biodegradable, made of metal railings, wheels with brakes and can be adjusted up and down. The beds can hold up to 150 kg (330 lbs.) of weight. According to Gomez, the bed-coffins cost between $92 and $132.
First Set of Bed-Coffins to be Donated
Gomez's factory in Bogota can manufacture up to 3,000 beds per month. He has decided to donate the first set of bed-coffins to a hospital in Leticia, Amazonas, Colombia's southernmost town. Gomez, speaking to Reuters, said the workers manufacturing the beds are not exposed to biological risk. This hospital was chosen as the city has a high number of coronavirus cases and the bed capacity of the hospital is low. Gomez is said to be in touch with potential buyers in Peru, Chile, Brazil, Mexico and the United States.
What Inspired Gomez to Design Bed-Coffins?
Gomez took the decision to make the bed-coffins after he saw bodies of dozens of coronavirus victims kept on the street awaiting burial at Guayaquil in Ecuador. His aim is to prevent similar scenes in any other region.
Compared to the manufacturing cost, Gomez is giving out the bed-coffins at a low cost. He hopes that the provincial government will help rural, under-funded hospitals to buy the bed-coffins. Explaining the main benefit of it, he said converting the bed used by the victim as coffin will also reduce possible contamination.
So far, Colombia has reported 19,131 coronavirus cases with 682 deaths. Globally the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus infections has increased to 5.23 million with 338,000 deaths.
Colombia had directed people to be under quarantine for two months, and the deadline is coming to an end. Due to many people choosing to quarantine in hospitals, hospitals are running out of space making it difficult to accommodate the needy. Even funeral homes are overcrowded due to the pandemic.
