As coronavirus spreads, is it time to kiss goodbye to hugs and high fives?
- Health experts are advising to limit physical displays of affection and touchy-feely greetings to keep the coronavirus contained
- Americans should think twice about hugs and high fives, while the French and Italians might reconsider traditional pecks on the cheek
King Henry VI of England banned kissing in 1439 to battle the plague. As the world confronts the coronavirus spreading from China, some health authorities are again urging people to refrain from physical displays of affection.
Epidemiologists say limiting contact could help slow the march of a disease that’s turned up in dozens of countries in just two months and killed more than 2,700 people. Americans ought to think twice about hugs and high fives, they say, while the French and Italians might want to reconsider their traditional pecks on the cheek.
“Clearly if coronavirus is circulating in your community, it’s a very prudent thing to do,” says Michael Osterholm, an expert on infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota. “It’s one of the few things you can do yourself to actively reduce your risk.”
In Italy, where infections are surging and seven have died from a virus that spreads through droplets contained in coughs and sneezes, people are starting to embrace the advice. Giorgia Nigri, a 36-year-old economist in Rome, says people have become less willing to pucker up.
“People in groups have started suggesting we don’t give each other the double kiss on the cheek as a greeting or goodbye any more,” Nigri says. “I was caught off guard and upset by that at first. But I suppose in larger groups, especially with strangers, it makes sense.”
Elsewhere in Europe, such suggestions have provoked surprise or derision. In the UK over Valentine’s Day, tabloids including the Daily Mail and The Sun bemoaned virologist John Oxford’s advice that Britons should remain “stand-offish” rather than engaging in touchy-feely greetings.
