Dutch PM tells people not to shake hands to avoid spreading coronavirus… then immediately shakes someone’s hand
- PM Mark Rutte called on citizens of the Netherlands to stop using the greeting
- He then shook the hand of Jaap van Dissel from the public health institute
- He then bumped elbows with the health expert as the two men started laughing
The Dutch PM told people not to shake hands to avoid spreading coronavirus moments before shaking someone’s hand.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte called on citizens of the Netherlands to stop using the greeting and then somewhat undermined his message by shaking hands with the head of the infectious diseases department of the national public health institute.
‘From this moment on, we stop shaking hands,’ Mr Rutte said at a news conference in The Hague following a crisis meeting of government ministers to discuss the virus.
So far in the Netherlands the deadly virus has killed four people and infected 382 overall.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte (left) called on citizens of the Netherlands to stop using the greeting and then somewhat undermined his message by shaking hands with the head of the infectious diseases department of the national public health institute Jaap van Dissel (right)
‘You can do a foot kiss, bump elbows, whatever you want,’ he said.
‘I see all kinds of great variations on shaking hands emerging at schools, but from today we stop shaking hands.’
As he wrapped up the news conference, he shook hands with Jaap van Dissel of the public health institute, who quickly pointed out the prime minister’s error.
‘Sorry, sorry, we can’t do that anymore! Do it again,’ Mr Rutte said as he bumped elbows with Mr van Dissel instead.
As he wrapped up the news conference, he shook hands with Jaap van Dissel of the public health institute, who quickly pointed out the prime minister’s error as the two men started laughing
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands rose by 61 to 382, health officials said on Tuesday, as a large cluster was identified at a southern Dutch hospital.
The National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said 61 people had tested positive for the new virus since Monday and one more person had died, taking the total number of deaths to four.
Out of the total of national infections, the RIVM said 157 were in the southern province of Noord-Brabant.
‘Sorry, sorry, we can’t do that anymore! Do it again,’ Mr Rutte said as he bumped elbows (pictured) with Mr van Dissel instead
‘From this moment on, we stop shaking hands,’ Mr Rutte said at a news conference in The Hague following a crisis meeting of government ministers to discuss the virus
A large group was at the Elisabeth-TweeSteden Ziekenhuis hospital in the town of Tilburg, where 28 out of 301 employees with mild respiratory symptoms had tested positive for COVID-19 on March 7-8, a statement said.
Most Dutch infections have been traced to people infected abroad, but the RIVM said it was still attempting to determine the origin of 157 infections.
The first confirmed case in the Netherlands was reported on February 27.