Coronavirus culture: From Royal red carpet in Britain to Trump’s oval office; see ‘Namaste’ making its debut

Credit Tanvi Madan/Twitter

President Donald Trump at a news conference on Thursday, greeted the visiting Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar with a ‘Namaste’.

Trump said, “I just got back from India, and I did not shake any hands there, and it was very easy because they go like this,” He joined his hands together to greet others. “They are ahead of the curve,” he added.

With the rising number of cases of coronavirus in the UK, people are avoiding contact. And the Royal Family switched on to the Indian tradition.

At the annual Prince’s Trust Awards, Prince Charles was seen greeting people with a namaste at the London Palladium.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Felipe VI, Spain’s king and queen with a namaste on Wednesday. He pressed his palms together and bowed slightly to pay his respects.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked his countrymen to greet each other by folding hands and saying ‘Namaste’ instead of shaking hands.

The Israeli PM said small steps like this can help control the virus.

Credit: Menteri Luar/ Twitter.

During their own state visit to Indonesia the Netherlands Queen Maxima, and King Willem-Alexander refrained from shaking hands with the counterparts and greeted them with Namaste.

Queen Maxima was seen waving and keeping a polite distance with others during walkabouts in Yogyakarta. The king of Netherlands however was seen with hand clasped, accompanied by a small bow.