New Delhi: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked his fellow countrymen to greet each other by folding hands and saying ‘Namaste’ as opposed to shaking hands as fears over the coronavirus outbreak increases.
At a press conference Wednesday, the Israeli Prime Minister said small steps such as adopting the “Indian Namaste” could help in controlling the spread of the virus even as he added that several measures will be announced later to control the outbreak.
He even went on to demonstrate how to do a ‘Namaste’ by folding his hands at the press conference.
Ahead of the meet, Netanyahu held a review meeting to analyse how to control the situation in Israel.
“We have had to take rigorous steps to slow the spread of the disease in Israel, we have taken select isolation and flight policies and measures for flights,” he said.
Israel has confirmed 17 cases of coronavirus, with no deaths so far. However, close to 7,000 people have been home quarantined.
Israel’s Health Minister Yaacov Litzman said, “We will not hesitate to do things even if they are unpopular. I don’t want to call it an epidemic — but it’s not far from it.”
Also read: India’s namaste is ready to make a world comeback due to coronavirus
Spread of coronavirus
So far, over 95,000 coronavirus cases have been reported from across the world, with 3,286 deaths.
China, where the epidemic began in the city of Wuhan, has reported the highest number of coronavirus cases at 80,430. The country to account for the second largest number of confirmed cases is South Korea with more than 5,700 people testing positive.
The virus reached India on 30 January, when a student who had returned from Wuhan University to Kerala was reported to have tested positive for coronavirus. On 2 February, a second case was confirmed in Kerala. As of now, India has reported 30 confirmed cases, including in cities like Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Hyderabad.
Also read: Why coronavirus is a global human credit crunch
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