TOKYO >> Since April, Toyota Motor Corp. has been pitching in with the nationwide medical effort to combat COVID-19 by providing vehicles specially equipped with barriers designed to prevent drivers from being infected.

The automaker delivered 12 vehicles — Hiace vans and minivan taxis called JPN Taxis — to medical institutions and local governments. The company outfitted them with protective features that allows for safely transporting infected people.

The Hiace van includes a partition between the driver’s seat and rear seats, and has an exhaust fan to eject the air in the rear compartment.

Meanwhile, the JPN Taxi-based cars have a partition that creates positive air pressure in the front of the car and negative air pressure in the rear, so that air in the rear compartment never flows forward toward the driver’s seat.