A special squad of Bhubaneswar Development Authority and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation on Thursday inspected all private hospitals here to check whether they are following Covid-19 guidelines.

“We verified their documents, inspected the premises and the history of each patient in the hospitals,” said BMC deputy commissioner Anshuman Rath.

Official sources said the authorities decided to conduct the search after 27 people were detected with Covid-19 at a private hospital in Mancheswar here on Wednesday. The hospital was later sealed.

In the last 24 hours, 38 persons have tested positive for Covid-19 in Bhubaneswar and the number of active cases has reached 258. The number of positive patients in the state has reached 5,962, while 15 persons have died.

The Odisha government has directed all private hospitals to submit a compliance certificate on infection prevention and control measures within seven days. “ We have also asked them to submit the names of their nodal officers so that we can keep in touch with them,” an official said.

According to the order, a coronavirus patient under treatment in a private hospital will be shifted to the dedicated Covid-19 hospital in an ambulance after they stabilise.

“All hospitals have been directed to inform about all cases of influenza-like illness or severe acute respiratory infections to the government. They need to establish a fever clinic and reserve an isolated area for management of suspected or confirmed Covid-19 cases,” an official said.