Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advises Israelis to avoid handshake and adopt Indian 'Namaste' to greet amid coronavirus fear

As fear over coronavirus intensifies across the globe, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday (March 4) advised the people of his country to adopt 'Namaste' - the Indian way of greeting - and avoid shaking hands as one of the measures to curb the spread of the deadly virus.

Addressing a press conference following a review meeting to contain the coronavirus in Israel, PM Netanyahu said that his government will soon announce several measures aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus in the country but added that measures, like avoiding the normal handshake and adopting the Indian 'Namaste' while greeting people, can be done easily to check the spread of the virus, which has claimed over 3,200 lives so far across the world.

"Avoid shaking hands. Just avoid shaking hands. As I do. You can try to implement Indian system of Namaste. Or say another word Shalom. Or find a way to avoid shaking hands," said PM Netanyahu.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu @netanyahu encourages Israelis to adopt the Indian way of greeting #Namaste at a press conference to mitigate the spread of #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/gtSKzBDjl4 — India in Israel (@indemtel) March 4, 2020

The Israeli prime minister, however, admitted that "we are in the middle of a global epidemic", but asserted that Israel has done well in taking actions aimed at preventing the spread of the virus in the country.

"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 added.