Pandemics: Future, Past, and Present: Should We Wave Goodbye to the Handshake?

As the world buzzed along at the start of 2020, trouble was brewing in other parts of world that would eventually arrive in the United States. We’re talking about SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. While everyone knows how that story played out, the novel disease is continuing to shape the political, social, and medical landscape in unexpected ways. In the face of adversity, businesses and people in the United States — and abroad for that matter — have adapted to what is now the new normal. One greeting of yesteryear that’s been put out to pasture is the handshake. In this episode, Dr. James McDonald and Dr. Phillip Chan of the Rhode Island Department of Health dig deeper into COVID-19 and take a historical look at greetings. Who decides when we have a pandemic? When will handshakes return? What should people expect in the future?  And what other alternatives do we have? Tune in for insights into these questions and more.