Coronavirus: Hugging less risky than handshakes, warns virologist
A
full-body hug is a safer way to make contact with someone else than a handshake
while trying to avoid contracting coronavirus, Belgian virologist Marc Van
Ranst told US-based newspaper New York Post on Tuesday.
Global
coronavirus lockdowns are beginning to ease, with authorities slowly walking
back on measures meant to combat the spread of the deadly virus. While
practicing adequate social distancing is still recommended, Van Ranst said that
if people are going to touch each other, hugging is better than a normal
handshake.
“People are allowed to hold each
other,” Van Ranst, an epidemiologist at the Rega Institute for Medical
Research, told the New York Post.
Handshakes,
however, are not recommended as it allows hands to “come into contact with each
other and with the environment,” increasing “the chance of the spread,” he
said, the New York Post reported.
Health
authorities have already warned citizens against unnecessary touching to limit
the spread of the virus.
In
March, the UAE advised residents that they should “avoid direct contact with
others, in particular cheek and nose greetings.”
Van
Ranst noted that hugs should only be kept for “people you have an affinity
with,” rather than a general greeting, the Post reported.
