PM Modi stresses on vaccination, localised measures to contain Covid without affecting livelihood
New Delhi, Jan 13: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday interacted with chief ministers over the COVID-19 situation in the country and stressed on local containment of the virus spread as well as ensuring minimum damage to livelihood while making strategies to deal with the surge in cases due to the Omicron variant.
In his remarks at the meeting, the prime minister underlined the importance of vaccination and the need to further accelerate the 'Har Ghar Dastak' programme to achieve 100 per cent vaccination coverage.
"We have vaccinated nearly three crore adolescents within 10 days and this shows India's potential and our preparedness to deal with this challenge," Modi said.
The prime minister said that vaccines made in India are proving their superiority all over the world.
"It is a matter of pride for every Indian that today India has given the first dose to about 92 per cent of the adult population. The coverage of second dose has also reached around 70 per cent in the country," he said.
Modi said the central and state governments must continue with pre-emptive, pro-active and collective approach followed so far in fighting the pandemic.
"The sooner we give precautionary dose to frontline workers and senior citizens, the stronger our healthcare system will become," he said.
Modi asserted that it is very important to safeguard the economy and livelihood of common people while framing Covid strategies.
"There should be minimum damage to the livelihood of the common people, economic activities, and the momentum of the economy be maintained. It is very important to keep these things in mind while making any (containment) strategy," Modi said.
"So it would be better to focus more on local containment," he added.
Modi said 130 crore people of India will surely emerge victorious from the coronavirus pandemic with their collective efforts.
The doubts that were there earlier about Omicron are slowly getting cleared now, he noted.
The Omicron variant is infecting the general public many times faster than the earlier variants, he added.
"We have to be alert, be careful, but we also have to take care that there should be no panic situation," Modi said.
"We have to see that in this festive season the alertness of the people and the administration does not fall short," he added.
The meeting came on a day India logged 2,47,417 new infections, the highest in 236 days, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,63,17,927, which included 5,488 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also attended the meeting.
Fresh curbs have been imposed in various parts of the country to check the spread of the highly transmissible virus.
Reviewing the Covid situation at a high-level meeting on Sunday, Modi had called for ensuring adequate health infrastructure at the district level and accelerating the vaccination drive for adolescents in mission mode.
The precaution vaccination drive for healthcare and frontline workers, besides those over 60 years of age with comorbidities, has also started.
Vaccination remains among the most effective means to fight Covid, Modi had said.
The prime minister had said that a meeting with the chief ministers be convened to discuss state-specific scenarios, best practices and the public health response.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
