new delhi amid the sudden surge of covid cases in several countries the indian medical association ima on thursday issued an advisory and appealed to public to follow appropriate behaviour with immediate effectin its advisory the ima listed out necessary steps to overcome the impending covid outbreak including wearing face masks in all public places maintaining social distancing and washing hands regularly with soap and water or using sanitizersthe imd has also advised people to avoid public gatherings like marriages political or social meetings and international travelit advised people to consult the doctor in case of any symptoms like fever sore throat cough or loose motions and to get covid vaccination including a precautionary dose at the earliestin view of the sudden surge of covid cases in different countries the indian medical association alerts and appeals to the public to follow appropriate behaviour with immediate effect as per the available reports nearly 537 lakh new cases have been reported in last 24 hours from countries like the usa japan south korea france and brazil india has reported 145 new cases in the last 24 hours out of which four cases are the new china variant bf7 the ima said in a statementwith the robust infrastructure in the public and private sector dedicated medical manpower proactive leadership support from the government and availability of sufficient medicines and vaccines india will be able to manage any eventualities as done in the pastthe ima also appealed to the government to upscale the preparedness for any such situation as seen in 2021 by issuing necessary instructions to the concerned ministries and departments to make available emergency medicines oxygen supply and ambulance servicesit has issued an advisory to its state and local branches to take necessary preparatory steps in case of a covid outbreak in their areasthe ima also appealed to all its members to work proactively as done in the past to combat the outbreakas of now the situation is not alarming and therefore there is no need to panic prevention is better than cure it saidthe indian medical association with more than 35 lakhs medical practitioners across the county is committed to fight the dreaded disease and assures the government its full cooperation and participation in all activities of preventive and curative measuresmeanwhile prime narendra modi also chaired a highlevel meeting to review the covid19 situation and its related aspects in the countyearlier in the day union health minister mansukh mandaviya said that the government has started random rtpcr sampling among the passengers arriving at international airports in the country amid the recent surge of coronavirus infection in various countries including china japan south korea france and the united stateswe have also started the random rtpcr sampling among passengers arriving at international airports in the country we are committed to tackling the pandemic and are taking appropriate steps health minister mansukh mandaviya said in his statement in the lok sabha while advising the states to make sure that people wear masks use