Coronavirus: Donald Trump thinks we might never shake hands again

Handshakes have been banned during the COVID-19 outbreak, but Donald Trump says the common habit could be “a thing of the past”.

It’s the friendly gesture we’ve been making for generations, but Donald Trump has just said coronavirus may mean the end of the humble hand shake forever.

Handshakes have been banned around the world including in Australia as we fight to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

But during an update on the Coronavirus Task Force at The White House, the President said handshakes will become a thing of the past.

“A couple of people have told me if we didn’t shake hands the incidents of flu, and flu is a big deal also, that flu might be cut down in half,” Mr Trump said. “Who knew that shaking hands was such a bad thing?”

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Trump has said handshakes could become a ‘thing of the past’. Picture: Supplied

He went on to explain that while he was never a fan of shaking hands, once he entered politics he found himself doing it regularly.

“When I ran for office all of a sudden I was shaking hundreds of people’s hands and if I don’t I wouldn’t even be standing here,” he said.

“But I think that’s a custom that maybe people don’t have to do. We have get together, we have to sit close to one another in stadiums, we have to sit next to each other in restaurants, all that stuff we have to do. But I think the concept of shaking hands is maybe something that is going to be a little bit of a thing of the past.”

The US President isn’t a fan of the common habit. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP

However, Mr Trump hasn’t ruled it out altogether, stating only time will tell if we abandon the habit for good.

“But let’s see what happens, maybe they’ll go right back to shaking hands,” he said.

It’s not the first time he’s commented on the demise of the universal greeting, recently admitting he’s never been “a big believer” of the act.

“Once I became a politician, you shake hands and you get a little bit used to it,” he said.

But in the wake of the virus outbreak, Mr Trump initially struggled to abandon the age-old greeting, with the President stating back in early March that he had no plans to give it up.

“I love the people of this country, and you can’t be a politician and not shake hands. And I’ll be shaking hands with people – and they want to say hello and hug you and kiss you – I don’t care,” he told Fox News last month.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has banned handshakes in Australia. Picture Gary Ramage

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has previously given clear instructions around the common greeting, stating: “No more handshakes.”

It came after there was slight confusion over the gesture, with people unsure whether it was safe or not to use it,

“This is a new thing we’ve moved to, something I will be practising, my cabinet members and others are practising,” he said during a live address on March 16.

“This is not something that was necessarily a key requirement weeks ago but it’s just another step up now.”

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