handshake. A light kiss on the cheek. Rubbing noses. All are ways people greet each other in the workplace and elsewhere, depending on culture and country. But with communicable diseases such as the novel coronavirus, the flu and colds circulating, it’s a good idea to shake off such practices.
Since December, when the coronavirus was identified in China, there have been 90,893 reported cases around the world and 3,110 deaths—including 11 deaths in the U.S. Although 48 countries outside of China have reported cases, 80 percent of the latest cases are from three countries—Korea, Iran and Italy—the director-general of the World Health Organization said March 3.
People everywhere are being urged to rethink how they greet each other to contain the spread of the virus, also known as COVID-19.