Coronavirus: Buhari, Osinbajo Introduce New Style Of Greeting

President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice, Yemi Osinbajo, have adopted ‘elbow bump’ as a new way of greeting perhaps to encourage Nigerians to stay safe as Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to takes its toll on nations of the world.

THE WHISTLER reports that Coronavirus fears have made Nigerians wary of handshakes, especially following the country’s recent confirmation of a second case of the deadly virus that has killed over 3,200 and infected over 100,000 people globally.

Nigeria had on February 27 confirmed its index case of COVID-19 in an Italian who had travelled into the country from Milan, Italy, on February 25.

President Buhari was seen in photos shared on social media by presidential aide, Tolu Ogunlesi, exchanging elbow bump with Osinbajo at the State House on Wednesday.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, and its quick spread to other countries of the world, people have come up with all kinds of ways to avoid handshakes and other physical contact to avoid getting the virus.

One of such is the foot-to-foot greeting popularly called the “Wuhan Shake.”

Meanwhile, 11 African countries are now said to have over 100 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with Egypt leading with 59 cases, according to CNN.

As of Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) gave a breakdown of the confirmed cases in Africa as follows:

1. Egypt – 59 (1 death)
2. Algeria – 20
3. South Africa – 13
4. Tunisia – 5
5. Senegal – 4
6. Morocco – 3 (1 death)
7. Burkina Faso – 2
8. Cameroon – 2
9. Nigeria – 2
10. Democratic Republic of Congo -1
11. Togo – 1

TWEET:

Status update – number of #COVID19/#coronavirus cases in @WHO #Africa Region:
??Algeria 20
??Senegal 4
??Togo 1
??Cameroon 2
??Nigeria 2
??South Africa 7
??Burkina Faso 2
??DRC 1

Other cases on the African continent:
??Egypt: 59
??Tunisia: 5
??Morocco: 2 pic.twitter.com/jIgCPJhLLx

— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) March 11, 2020