In light of the rise in COVID-19 cases, some private hospitals have handed over their establishments and staff to the administration in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior district to make arrangements for additional beds for infected patients, an official said on Saturday.

At least 12 private hospitals and institutions have handed over their establishments and paramedical staff to the administration to provide free care for coronavirus patients, district collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh said.

COVID-19 care centres have already been set up at six hospitals and others will be started soon, the official said, adding that the move will provide additional 500 beds to infected persons.

The district administration has appointed nodal officers to provide better treatment to coronavirus patients as per the protocol, he said.

A referral system is also being developed so that patients can be admitted to super-specialty hospitals if their condition deteriorates, he said.

There are around 2,000 beds for COVID-19 patients in city hospitals, it was stated.

Gwalior on Friday recorded 692 fresh cases, taking the tally of infections in the district 22,848.

(Edited by : Pranati Deva)