Uttar Pradesh: Ten cases of Zika virus confirmed in Kanpur
Lucknow(PTI): The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday said 10 cases of Zika virus have been confirmed in Kanpur as it stepped up surveillance to check its spread, officials said.
Since the confirmation of the state's first case of Zika virus in October, the Uttar Pradesh government is carrying out testing of samples on a large-scale, an official statement said.
So far, a total of 645 samples have been sent to the King George's Medical University (KGMU), it said, adding that out of these 253 samples have been collected from people with symptoms of fever and 103 samples are of pregnant women.
A total of 10 patients have tested positive so far in Kanpur district of the state, it said. Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that spreads through bite of infected mosquitoes.
With cases of Zika being reported in the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said on Sunday that the health department must ensure strict surveillance to check spread of the virus and undertake frequent and extensive door-to-door sanitisation and fogging drives to check mosquito breeding.
People should be made aware of preventive measures and encouraged to maintain cleanliness, he had said.
The State Health Department has been carrying out an extensive exercise of mass-scale sanitisation, state-wide surveillance drives, spraying of anti-larva chemicals, fogging and cleanliness drives, it said.
Health workers have been paying door-to-door visits to identify patients with viral fever, vector-borne diseases and with other symptoms.
Under the drive, so far over 39,897 households have been visited and more than 1,61,535 people have been made aware of preventive measures.
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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.
