Amid the increase in the number of coronavirus patients, the Uttarakhand government on Tuesday (24 March) decided to take over control of all private hospitals in the state that have 100 or more beds to tackle the covid-19 pandemic, reports India Today.

The state government has also decided to reserve 25 per cent of the beds in private hospitals for covid-19 patients.

The Trivendra Singh Rawat government has decided to reserve 25 percent of beds in these private medical facilities for suspected COVID-19 patients, a statement by the government said.

The health authorities in the state have so far collected a total of 206 samples for Covid-19, out of which results of 162 have been received. Four samples were tested positive, while 158 others have been tested negative, the state health department said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the total number of confirmed covid-19 cases in India has risen to 492, of which 451 are Indian while 41 others are foreign nationals.