People in China have abandoned traditional handshakes and started to greet each other by tapping their feet together to avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Trending videos show residents of the country using their shoes to touch others’ shoes as they meet during the health crisis.
The new form of social greeting has been billed as the ‘foot-touching curtsy’ on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter.
One trending video , which was posted by a Weibo account based in Ningbo, shows one man wearing a face mask doing the foot-to-foot curtsy with several others when they met
One trending video, which was posted by a Weibo account based in Ningbo, shows one man wearing a face mask coming out of a vehicle to meet several people.
But when one of his guests extended his hand for a handshake, he gestured him to stop. The two then exchanged greetings by tapping their feet twice – once with the right foot and once with the left foot.
Another clip on short-video site Douyin, thought to be filmed in Shenzhen, captured a similar scene when five men gathered to drink tea after an extended Lunar New Year holiday.
China’s social media users have been amused by the unconventional curtsy.
On Weibo, one person joke: ‘Now you need a pair of good quality shoes.’
Another one praised: ‘These people are so creative!’
A third person wondered: ‘Are we all going to greet each other like this from now on?’
But a fourth commenter worried: ‘What if the virus gets passed through the soles?’
Another clip on short-video site Douyin , thought to be filmed in Shenzhen, captured a similar scene when five men gathered to drink tea greeted each other by tapping their soles together
Chinese people are not the only ones who have adopted the foot-to-foot way of greeting.
In Iran, a country with the second highest number of coronavirus deaths, a viral video shows people using the innovative approach of greeting to prevent the contagion.
The hashtag StopShakingHands has been widely used on Twitter as the outbreak takes hold and Britons take steps to minimise the chances of catching the illness.
In Germany, even Chancellor Angela Merkel was shunned by her interior minister Horst Seehofer who refused to shake her hand at an event today. Merkel had previously refused to shake the hands of attendees at an event in her district due to the outbreak.
One British doctor today also claimed she has stopped shaking hands with new acquaintances and a Google executive revealed how he has spent hours avoiding the greeting to stop the virus spreading.
No response: Seehofer refused to shake the chancellor’s hand at a summit at the federal chancellery in Berlin this morning
Rejected: German interior minister Horst Seehofer turns away Angela Merkel’s offer of a handshake this morning after revealing he had stopped shaking hands over virus fears
While France is urging people to cut back on the customary double-cheek kiss to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.
French Health Minister Olivier Véran advised the country Saturday to refrain from the traditional greeting known as ‘la bise’, in which people give kisses, or air kisses, on both cheeks.
He told a media briefing at the Elysee Palace in Paris yesterday: ‘The reduction in social contacts of a physical nature is advised. That includes the practice of the bise. The virus is circulating in our territory and we must now slow down its spread.’
The Italian government’s special commissioner for coronavirus, Angelo Borrelli, also warned against such displays of physical contact in the country, which has seen more than 1,100 people test positive for coronavirus and at least 29 deaths.
Globally, the coronavirus has killed at least 3,060 people and infected more than 89,600
South Korean soldiers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at Dongdaegu railway station in Daegu on February 29. Coronavirus cases in South Korea have surged in the past week
People wearing face masks ahead of the St David’s Day Parade in Cardiff on Monday as fears continue to sweep Britain while the coronavirus crisis unfolds in more than 60 countries
But there have been no official edicts on the social custom of kissing, which sociologists say is rooted in Italy’s Mediterranean culture as well as its strong family and social structure.
‘We have a collective social life that is very florid, very expansive. We have lots of contact, we shake hands, we kiss each other, we hug each other,’ Borelli said. ‘Maybe it is better in this period not to shake hands, and to not have too much contact, and try to be a bit less expansive, which is different from how I am.’
Originating in Wuhan, the new coronavirus – known as COVID-19 – has killed at least 2,912 people and infected more than 80,000 inside China.
Globally, the coronavirus epidemic has killed at least 3,060 people and infected more than 89,700.