Hugs are safer than handshakes, Belgian virologist says

Van Ranst noted that skin to skin contact increases the risk of transmitting the coronavirus from person to person and that giving a hug is in theory safer than giving a handshake.

By ZACHARY KEYSER
A girl hugs her mother before entering her elementary school in Sderot as it reopens following the ease of restrictions preventing the spread of the coronavirus disease. (photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
A girl hugs her mother before entering her elementary school in Sderot as it reopens following the ease of restrictions preventing the spread of the coronavirus disease.
(photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
Hugs are safer than handshakes, according to Belgian virologist Marc Van Ranst.
Van Ranst noted that skin to skin contact increases the risk of transmitting the coronavirus from person to person and that giving a hug is in theory safer than giving a handshake.
"As far as I am concerned, people are allowed to hold each other," Van Ranst said, according to the Brussels Times. "A handshake remains difficult, hands come into contact with each other and with the environment, which increases the chance of the spread."
But don't go crazy, keep it to a minimum, he said.
“Shaking everyone’s hand at the conference table, you cannot do that anymore. But I do not recommend replacing that with a hug. Keep the hug for the people you have an affinity with,” Van Ranst said. “By the way, I do not think many people have missed that obligatory handshake.”
So, who needs a hug?