‘I Don’t Think We Should Ever Shake Hands Again.’ Dr. Fauci Says Coronavirus Should Change Some Behaviors for Good

The coronavirus will be the end of the handshake as we know it, if Dr. Anthony Fauci has his way. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, one of the leading experts in the fight against COVID-19 the U.S., told the Wall Street Journal podcast on Tuesday that when the country begins to loosen lockdown restrictions, some behaviors must change. “When you gradually come back, you don’t jump into it with both feet,” Fauci told podcast host Kate Linebaugh on The Journal, talking about what life might look like when it eventually starts returning to normal. “You say, what are the things you could still do and still approach normal? One of them is absolute compulsive hand-washing. The other is you don’t ever shake anybody’s hands.” “I don’t think we should ever shake hands ever again, to be honest with you. Not only would it be good to prevent coronavirus disease; it probably would decrease instances of influenza dramatically in this country,” he later added. Keep up to date on the growing threat to global health by signing up for our daily coronavirus newsletter. When asked when strict social distancing measures could be lifted Fauci said: “It isn’t like a light switch on and off, it’s a gradual pulling back on certain of the restrictions and to try and get society a bit back to normal.” Fauci said that it might be necessary to re-evaluate the national social distan...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Brief COVID-19 News Desk overnight Source Type: news