While the World Health Organisation has recommended frequently washing one’s hands for 20 seconds (or the duration of ‘Happy Birthday’ sung twice) to protect oneself from coronavirus (COVID-19), Anupam Kher has proposed a desi solution to the outbreak.
In a video posted on Twitter, the actor offered a tip on how to avoid physical contact with everyone for the foreseeable COVID-19-riddled future without having to resort to a hazmat suit. He suggests, the next time you greet someone, rather than shaking hands, go the “age old Indian way” and fold them into a polite namaste. “It’s hygienic, friendly and centres your energies,” he says.
To be clear, Anupam doesn’t dismiss the necessity of washing one’s hands but offers swapping a handshake for a namaste as an added precaution – “It is important that we are careful,” he says sagely in the video. Unlike Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath who claimed in a speech that coronavirus can be cured by practising yoga every day, and that it isn’t a disease but is caused by a change in weather.
The coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan in the Hubei province of China, and has since claimed over 900 lives across the globe. It belongs to the same family of viruses as the one that caused the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak which originated in China in 2002-2003. Cases have been reported in the US, Canada, Germany, Finland, France, Italy, Sri Lanka, Australia, Japan, Iran and India. Most recently, the first positive case of the coronavirus was reported in Delhi on 2 March. Cases have also been reported in Kerala, Telangana, Agra and Jaipur.
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