Bengaluru, July 18 : Alarmed over the surging Covid cases across Karnataka, especially in the state capital, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Saturday directed private medical college hospitals to admit infected patients and treat them on priority to reduce active cases. "Hospitals attached to private medical colleges in the state should allot 50 per cent of their beds from Sunday to treat Covid patients whose number has been rising daily,a Yeddiyurappa told their representatives at a meeting here. Though most of the 520 private hospitals in Bengaluru and other cities/towns across the state allotted 50 per cent of beds for Covid patients on the state government's directive on June 20, hospitals attached to private colleges have not been forthcoming due to staff shortage and resource constraints. "It has come to our notice that many private medical college hospitals are not admitting Covid patients despite an official directive to them. Patients are not getting timely treatment resulting in mortality rate increasing," he lamented. Though the medical college hospitals assured the Chief Minister in their last meeting with him a fortnight ago that they would allot 4,500 beds for treating Covid cases, their response has been less than 50 per cent. The Chief Minister assured the private college hospitals of providing doctors, nurses and paramedics to treat the Covid patients if they were facing shortage. The state government appointed nodal officers to monitor availability of beds in hospitals of the private medical colleges across the state. "In these extraordinary times, the state and the medical fraternity should fight the pandemic together by treating Covid as well as non-Covid patients on priority," Yediyurappa asserted. Of the 3,693 new cases registered across Karnataka on Friday, 2,208 accounted for Bengaluru, taking its Covid tally to 27,496, including 20,623 active after 6,290 were discharged so far, while 582 succumbed to the infection till date. The state's tally of positive cases shot up to a whopping 55,115 on Friday, including 33,205 active after 20,757 were discharged till date, while 1,147 succumbed to the infection since March 9. /IANS