Panaji, May 15 (IANS): Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday said that the state government would be taking over control of admission procedures of 21 private Covid hospitals in Goa, due to their failure to reserve 50 per cent beds for Covid treatment in their facilities.

Addressing a press conference in Panaji, Sawant also said that the decision, which would come into effect from Monday, was taken because the private sector hospitals were constantly stonewalling requests made by the government to reserve 50 per cent of their bed capacity for treating Covid patients, which in turn put a lot of pressure on the government health infrastructure.

"There are 21 private Covid hospitals running in the state. We have repeatedly told them to reserve 50 per cent beds for Covid patients, but they have not. From Monday, the government will take control of the admission procedures at these hospitals," Sawant said.

"The admission to these hospitals will be controlled by the government and patients will be treated free of cost. The government will pay these hospitals the fees as per our schedule," Sawant said, adding that the management of the hospitals will continue to be carried out by the private sector.

"As a result of this every patient will be admitted to hospitals," Sawant said.

The Chief Minister said that the state's top government hospital, the Goa Medical College, was overloaded to almost double its existing capacity due to the steep Covid hike.

Sawant also expressed relief that the state's positivity rate for Saturday had come down to 35 percent from the peak of 51 percent which it had scaled to some days back.