Hugging is Safer than Handshakes When it Comes to Coronavirus

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We may very well remember 2020 as the year that the handshake died.  When the Coronavirus pandemic hit the precious blue marble we call Earth, the most common greeting in use was firmly grasping each other's hands and vigorously shaking them up and down.  In the process, we smeared all of the germs we have collected along the way in with all of the germs the other person has on their hands - I think you can see why we stopped doing that.

Unlike a lot of things we lost during the shutdown, I'm not sure this particular greeting will be making a comeback.  Epidemiologists (doctors that specialize in diseases, especially their transmission methods) have gone so far as to say that the human race will be healthier without mashing our most contaminated appendages together as a greeting.  Virologist Marc Van Ranst works with the prestigious Rega Institute for Medical Research in Leuven, Belgium.  According to the statement he gave the Brussels Times, hugging is safer than shaking hands

I know that seems wrong, but the science is solid - less skin-to-skin contact means less of a chance that you will transmit or receive a nasty, microscopic surprise.  That being said, starting or ending meeting at work probably shouldn't include a bear hug for everyone in the room - those should be saved for those people in your life that you need to have physical contact with.

Additionally, Van Ranst says that alternate physical greetings like fist, elbow, and foot bumps are potentially harmful as well because it would bring the two parties closer than the recommended 6 feet health officials say is the safest distance to stay away from each other.