Leaders across the world including Prince Charles have resorted to the Indian greeting of Namaste as opposed to handshakes and hugs in order to combat Covid-19 and avoid community transmission.
This comes after Boris Johnson’s warning yesterday that as many as 10,000 people may already have coronavirus in the UK and many families should expect to lose loved ones before their time.
While public health experts have criticised the Prime Minister’s less stringent steps to tackle what he described as the “worst public health crisis for a generation”, leaders across the world have announced temporary lockdown in India and America among others.
Now, people around the world are worried that western traditions around shaking hands, hugging and kissing on the cheek might help spread the virus.
On 11th March Prince Charles was spotted greeting people with a namaste at the London Palladium where he suddenly switched from wanting to shake hands to a namaste. Recently, US President Donald Trump and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar who is himself of Indian-origin also greeted each other by folding their hands in a 'namaste' greeting at the White House.
Similarly, French President Emmanuel Macron, is the latest public figure to join these leaders in greeting a namaste. The President welcomed King Felipe of Spain and his wife in the courtyard of the Elysee Palace in Paris with his palms folded as he tried creating awareness around the no-contact policy during Covid-19. Spain and France combined have confirmed more than 4,000 coronavirus cases.
In the meantime, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promoted the namaste, saying that the world is increasingly adopting the no-contact way of greeting.
