Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • Charlie Kirk shot dead
  • Nepal protests
  • Russia-Poland tension
  • Israeli strikes in Qatar
  • Larry Ellison
  • Apple event
  • Sunjay Kapur inheritance row
fp-logo
Handshakes and direct human contact could be making a comeback post COVID-19
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
  • Home
  • Tech
  • science
  • Handshakes and direct human contact could be making a comeback post COVID-19

Handshakes and direct human contact could be making a comeback post COVID-19

Agence France-Presse • June 18, 2021, 14:25:16 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

Shaking hands is a ritual taught to children by adults, but after 16 traumatic months it is one that could weaken if it is not passed down to the next generation.

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Add as a preferred source on Google
Prefer
Firstpost
On
Google
Handshakes and direct human contact could be making a comeback post COVID-19

Banished at the start of the pandemic, the handshake is making something of a comeback, thanks to vaccinations and the lifting of social restrictions — but “pressing the flesh” faces an uncertain future. More than speeches or communiques, one of the most striking takeaways from the Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden summit in Geneva this week was their fulsome handshake in front of the world’s cameras — a rare moment of physical human contact. A few days earlier, at the G7 summit in Cornwall, Biden and his fellow leaders were still elbow-bumping away, at outdoor events spaced six feet apart. [caption id=“attachment_9730401” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands as they arrive to meet at the ‘Villa la Grange’ in Geneva, Switzerland. Image credit: AP Photo/Patrick Semansky President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands as they arrive to meet at the ‘Villa la Grange’ in Geneva, Switzerland. Image credit: AP Photo/Patrick Semansky[/caption] Back in the United States, most Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted, and vaccinated citizens have been told they don’t need masks — even inside. Social distancing is largely a thing of the past, and unlimited domestic travel is back on. But many Americans are still treading carefully — mask-wearing is still encouraged in many shops and offices, friends often greet each other with a brief wave, and handshakes are treated warily. New York telephone technician Jesse Green declines to shake hands with customers, but does with people he knows and who have been vaccinated. “Because of the pandemic, people are more aware about the way they use their hands,” he said. For William Martin, a 68-year-old lawyer, shaking hands with anyone, vaccinated or not, is out of the question. He won’t do so “until it is safe,” he said, adding “and ‘safe’ will not be determined by some government.” Some US companies and organizations are using colored bracelets to allow employees, customers or visitors to signal their openness to contact: red, yellow or green, from the most cautious to the most comfortable. Hugging is generally out of bounds, and kissing to greet someone — never common in the United States — is almost unimaginable for most.

Unscientific?

Jack Caravanos, a professor at New York University’s School of Global Public Health, said wariness of handshakes does not exactly match the evidence. Covid-19 “is poorly transmitted by surface contact and is essentially an airborne virus, (so) the scientific basis for no skin contact is moot,” he said. “However, the common cold, influenza and a host of other infectious diseases are transmitted by touch, therefore eliminating handshaking will overall have a positive public health impact.” Tapping into the wider health benefits, many experts would not mourn the death of the handshake. “I don’t think we should ever shake hands ever again, to be honest with you,” White House pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci said last year as the virus took hold worldwide. Allen Furr, professor of sociology at Auburn University, said “we’ve always had germophobes, people who don’t like to touch people because they see everything as a contagion. “We may have some more of those, because of the psychological effect that safety is equated with not coming close to people — that may stick in some people’s minds.”

A human ritual

Shaking hands is a ritual taught to children by adults, but after 16 traumatic months it is one that could weaken if it is not passed down to the next generation, he said. Other forms of greeting such as fist-bumping, a brief wave, or alternatives such as an Indian-style “namaste” could become increasingly popular compared with the hearty grip of a “manly” handshake. But “so much will be lost if we didn’t shake hands,” mourns Patricia Napier-Fitzpatrick, founder of The Etiquette School of New York. “You can tell a lot about a person by their handshake. It’s part of body language — people have lost jobs in the past because of bad handshakes. “When you touch someone, you’re showing you trust them, you’re saying ‘I’m not going to harm you.’” As with everything, handshaking today has “become a political thing”, suggests New York paramedic Andy McCorkle, with some people shaking hands as a sign of defiance against the government and Covid restrictions. “I feel like it’ll be solidified psychologically, to keep one’s distance,” he said. The pandemic has upended many things about everyday life, and the handshake is just one of them – the test will be to see if humans need it back. Furr, for his part, expects the handshake to endure. “It’s just kind of too important a ritual in our culture,” he said.

Tags
handshake Virus Transmission Pandemic COVID 19 spread of sars cov 2
End of Article
Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
End of Article

Top Stories

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV