Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the spread of coronavirus in Israel at a Wednesday press conference, suggesting that Israelis forego the normal greeting ritual of shaking hands and instead adopt the Indian meeting tradition of the Namaste.
Netanyahu claimed the Namaste may help to slow the person-to-person spread of coronavirus on Israeli soil.
Traditionally, the Namaste greeting is conducted by placing one’s hands together, palms touching and fingers pointing upwards. It can be used with or without a slight bow of the head, but using the bow is seen as a show of respect to the person being greeted.
“We have to understand we are in the midst of a global epidemic, the most dangerous of these epidemics in the last 100 years,” Netanyahu said. “We had to take tough, even very rigid steps to slow the spread of the disease in Israel, and indeed it did.”
Israel currently has at least 50,000 people on quarantine with more expected to be placed in isolation after it was reported that an individual infected with coronavirus attended a soccer game at a stadium in Tel Aviv.
However, current statistics state that Israel only has reported 15 total cases of coronavirus with one individual who has recovered.
