Avoid the covid handshake

On March 2, Indonesian President Joko Widodo confirmed that COVID-19 had entered Indonesia with the discovery of two positive patients. People are asked not to panic and continue to take preventive measures.

As one way to prevent COVID-19, many health experts recommend avoiding direct contact with other people, including handshakes or shakes.

Avoiding handshakes to prevent COVID-19

Along with the spread of COVID-19, various appropriate preventive measures are continuously updated. More and more information about this virus is starting to be revealed one by one.

One of his suggestions is not to shake hands with people who are sick. Even if both parties are healthy, you should also temporarily avoid handshakes to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Hands are one part of the body that works a lot and often touches various surfaces. Especially if you take a walk in a public place, no one can ensure that the banister or elevator button is free from germs, including coronavirus .

This prevention has been used as an experiment by Dr. Mark Sklansky, a professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.

It is feared that the habit of shaking hands by hospital health workers can spread the disease. Although there are strict rules for hand hygiene, only 40% of health workers actually adhere to these rules well.

COVID-19 Outbreak updates Country: IndonesiaData

1,024,298

Confirmed

831,330

Recovered

28,855

DeathDistribution Map

Therefore, Dr. Slansky experimented with making a sign depicting the shaking of both hands on a circle that is outlined in the middle.

The picture is pasted on the hospital wall. The area affixed to the image does not allow visitors to greet by shaking hands.

Although not directly showing a decrease in the number of infected people, the six-month trial has at least made many health workers and hospital visitors begin to realize the importance of avoiding hand contact to prevent the spread of viruses and bacteria.

The same thing needs to be done in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone can play an active role in preventing the spread of COVID-19 by simply being disciplined in avoiding handshakes during this period.

Scheme of the spread of COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 the cause of COVID-19 was initially thought to be airborne virus which can spread in the air. However, WHO recently stated that the spread of the COVID-19 virus occurs through droplets of body fluids of an infected person (droplet).

Generally, there are two ways of spreading, namely from human to human or by touching objects that have been exposed to the virus on their surface.

In the human-to-human situation, the virus is transmitted when a person inhales droplet from COVID-19 patients after they cough, sneeze or breathe. Transmission can occur when someone is near an infected person.

Sometimes, droplet not directly inhaled by a healthy person, but sticking to the hand or surface of an object. People can be infected if they touch objects or shake hands with patients and then touch their faces without washing their hands first.

SARS-CoV-2 cannot exist without a host cell. However, SARS-CoV-2 is able to stay on items for several hours to five days, depending on the type of material it is attached to. These objects are often touched without realizing it.

In some cases, COVID-19 is transmitted even before the patient develops symptoms. The person you are shaking hands with may not even know that they are infected. This is why you need to avoid handshakes to prevent contracting COVID-19.

COVID-19 is a disease that is very easily transmitted, especially if the virus has been spread by it superspreader . Superspreader is someone who infects large amounts of other people through secondary contact.

If usually a COVID-19 patient infects 1-2 healthy people, superspreader can hit up to a dozen people. Now imagine if someone doesn't realize he is positive for COVID-19, then shakes hands with dozens of people.

For this reason, the government finally issued an appeal to the public not to go to places with high COVID-19 cases until the outbreak subsided. People are also asked to temporarily avoid handshakes to prevent transmission of COVID-19.

Greetings in lieu of handshakes

Source: iHeartRADIO

A handshake is a form of nonverbal communication that has been a long tradition. A handshake is often performed as a greeting, the greeting of two people when meeting, and when the two parties have reached an agreement.

Especially in Indonesia, a handshake is also seen as a sign of respect from the younger to the older. This handshake is followed by kissing the back of the palm, which is sometimes called 'salim' or 'greeting'.

With the recent cases of COVID-19 patients, many people are worried about the possibility of transmission from a handshake. On the other hand, refusing a handshake is considered impolite so this is still being done.

In fact, avoiding handshakes to prevent COVID-19 is not something bad. Again, viruses and bacteria can be spread anywhere, we never know for sure what risks lurk.

There are still other ways to give greetings. When greeting older people or being respected, you can bow or do namaste , namely clasping your hands together in front of your chest.

Meanwhile, when meeting with peers, you can greet them with a wave of your hand. After bending down, namaste , or wave, don't forget to keep a safe distance of two meters during interactions.

Greetings in lieu of handshakes and 'salim' are now widely practiced. However, it cannot be denied that not everyone is aware of the importance of this prevention effort.

If you are in a situation where it is not possible to avoid handshaking, make sure you wash your hands with soap before and after doing so to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Also avoid touching the eye, nose and mouth area.