Corona Outbreak: ‘Namaste’ replaces ‘handshake’

The coronavirus cases in the world are increasing day by day. The pandemic disease COVID-19, which began from China's Wuhan has witnessed a sharp rise.

Advisories to people are being issued to not greet anyone with a hug or handshake. To reduce the risk of coming in contact with respiratory droplets, people are now opting to greet friends and acquaintances with a namaste.

US President Donald Trump and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar exchanged a 'namaste' instead of usual handshake at the White House on Thursday amid coronavirus outbreak.

#WATCH US President Donald Trump: We (him&PM of Ireland) didn't shake hands today&we looked at each other&said what are we going to do?Sort of a weird feeling. We did this (joined hands). I just got back from India&I didn't shake any hands there. It was easy. #CoronaVirusPandemic pic.twitter.com/5uTSKTf7bO

— ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2020

• A fresh example of the same was seen when the Royal family of the UK also opted for the same.
• The French President Emmanuel Macron was also spotted greeting Spain royals with folded hands. 
• A video of Prince Charles greeting with Namaste went viral on the internet.

IFS officer Parveen Kaswan shared the clip with the caption, "Namaste. See, we Indians told to do this to the world many many years ago. Now just a class on 'how to do a namaste properly.'"

Namaste 🙏🏻 🙏🏻

See we Indians told to do this to world many many years ago. Now just a class on 'how to do namaste properly'. #CoronaVirus pic.twitter.com/P1bToirPin

— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) March 12, 2020

Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron ditched the customary French peck on the cheeks and greeted everyone with a 'namaste.'

Président Macron has decided to greet all his counterparts with a namaste, a graceful gesture that he has retained from his India visit in 2018 pic.twitter.com/OksoKjW7V8

— Emmanuel Lenain (@FranceinIndia) March 11, 2020

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also asked citizens to opt for namaste and said, "Just avoid shaking hands as I do. You can try to implement the Indian system of Namaste or say another word like shalom, but find a way, any way of not shaking hands."

Netanyahu announcing Israel's new extreme measures against #corona. Orders Israelis to stop shaking hands, suggests following Indian custom of namaste instead. 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/8dGZUUtwEU

— Noga Tarnopolsky (@NTarnopolsky) March 4, 2020