Bhubaneswar, Jul 18 (IANS): The Odisha government on Saturday warned the private hospitals of strong action for denying treatment to patients coming from Covid-19 hotspots.

Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy said there are instances of some private hospitals being reluctant in admitting patients coming from hotspot districts.

He termed such act as unethical and illegal.

"Instances have come of some pvt hospitals reluctant in admitting patients from hotspots districts. It's ethically wrong and illegal. Be informed Govt action against wrong doers will be serious," tweeted the Chief Secretary.

He also advised people to dial 100 to inform authorities concerned about such practices.

The Covid-19 cases continue to increase in the state.

Odisha has reported 591 new Covid-19 positive cases and three deaths in the last 24 hours, informed the health department on Saturday.

The deaths were reported from Ganjam and Gajapati districts.

With this, the positive cases of the state increased to 16,701 while the death toll rose to 86.