This Toyota Hiace can transport severe cases of COVID-19

KUALA LUMPUR: Since the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen Toyota amongst frontlines in the fight against the virus. A while back, Toyota announced that it had begun the production of PPE kits that’ll be distributed to doctors and healthcare workers in Japan. Before that, the automaker introduced a ride-hailing application for doctors in South East Asia. And now, Toyota has introduced a unique vehicle that will transport severely-ill coronavirus patients.

The vehicle in question is the Toyota Hiace that, according to the automaker, has been developed to be an “airborne droplet circulation control vehicle.”

A few of its unique characteristics are -

• An interior barrier separating the front and rear compartments
• An exhaust fan that’ll expel air out of the vehicle continuously, thus preventing the air at the back to circulate into the front compartment
• A motorized elevator for the gurney, making patient movement in and out of the vehicle easy with less human effort

As of now, there is only one unit of the specially designed Toyota Hiace that’s been donated to the Showa University Hospital, Tokyo, joining automaker’s fleet of transport aid. Besides, Toyota has also provided ten other vehicles to the local government and medical facilities across Japan to transport infected patients.

In weeks to come Toyota aims to manufacture more such special transporters for hospitals and medical facilities across Japan. All the efforts taken by Toyota are parts of its Kokoro Hakobu Project, which has been its nationwide initiative to “provide continuous and long-term support to disaster-affected areas in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake”.

Hopefully, Toyota will send a few special Hiace units outside Japan to countries that need help to fight COVID-19 and are looking for better means to transport infected patients.

Also Read: What is the Open COVID-19 Declaration of which Toyota, Honda, and Nissan are part?