Take action against hospitals denying admission to COVID-19 patients: Yediyurappa to officials
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday directed officials to take action against hospitals that deny admission to COVID-19 patients 'unnecessarily' as he stressed on prompt and quality treatment to bring down the number of deaths.
Yediyurappa, who is holding meetings to review the situation in all the eight zones in the city witnessing a spike in the coronavirus cases, also stressed on making tracing more effective to make sure the pandemic did not spread further.
Officials should take immediate action as per rules in case there was a delay in ambulances picking up infected patients or hospitals denying admission unnecessarily, he said, giving a series of instructions amid rising cases.
"Officials should focus on control of COVID by providing timely treatment to those infected. Tests should be conducted in large numbers to identify those infected, and rules should be followed strictly in containment zones," Yediyurappa was quoted as saying by his office in a release.
He said priority should be given to obtaining test results at the earliest, within 24 hours.
"Avoid unnecessary rush at hospitals by admitting asymptomatic and those without any comorbidities. Ensure that beds are immediately available to needy patients," he said.
Home isolation and COVID care centres have been prescribed for asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients.
With the state capital reporting spike in cases, Yediyurappa is holding the review meetings with Ministers, MLAs, and officials of all eight zones separately on Wednesday and Thursday.
Aimed at effectively managing the pandemic in Bengaluru, Yediyurappa on July 9 appointed Ministers and senior IAS officers as in-charge for each zone in the city.
The Chief Minister also instructed officials to ensure effective management of COVID hospitals and care centres with food supply, treatment, cleanliness among other things, and see to that there are no complaints.
"If there are complaints, respond to them immediately.
If COVID patient comes to any hospital seeking treatment, admit them and provide them with initial treatment, and later depending on the situation and need they can be shifted to another hospital," he added.
Asking them to make regular visits to hospitals to check facilities and rectify if there were any faults, he directed them to brief the in-charge Ministers daily and him weekly once.
They should fix targets for bringing down the number of infections in their zones, he said, and issued directions for taking action against officials who did not report for duty without valid reasons.
As of Wednesday, cumulatively 75,833 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state. This included 1,519 deaths and 27,239 discharges.
Bengaluru Urban district tops the districts with a total of 36,993 infections.
Out of the biggest single-day spike 4,764 fresh cases in the state on Wednesday, the district alone accounted for a whopping 2,050.
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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.
