Amid a sudden surge of coronavirus cases in some countries, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Thursday urged the public to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour and told the Centre to upscale preparedness to combat the virus.

The IMA urged the Central 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 services.

It issued the advisory to its state and local branches to take necessary preparatory steps in case of a COVID outbreak in their areas and to work proactively as done in the past to combat the outbreak. As of now, the situation is not alarming and therefore there is no need to panic. Prevention is better than cure.

The IMA urged to wear face masks in all public places and to maintain social distancing along with regular hand washing and public gatherings like marriages, political or social meetings etc. to be avoided. The medical body has also urged for the COVID vaccination including precautionary doses at the earliest.

"With the robust infrastructure in public as well as in 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 past," the IMA said in a statement.

The IMA said that as per the available reports, nearly 5.37 lakh new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours from major countries like the US, 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 - BF.7.

With more than 3.5 lakh medical practitioners across the county, the IMA is committed to fighting the dreaded disease and assuring the government its full cooperation and participation in all activities of preventive and curative measures.