Indian ace shuttle PV Sindhu has gone the traditional Indian way to prevent Coronavirus threat. She is flying to Birmingham, England to compete in the All England Badminton Championship. During his short stay in England, she will avoid shaking hands with everybody. Coronavirus is currently wreaking havoc in China, and its effects are very destructive all over Europe.
This has posed a threat to every sporting event. In Italy, Serie A games are being planned to be held in an empty stadium. In England, the Football Association (FA) is planning many precautionary measures to prevent the virus contamination. One very common measure is that every governing body is encouraging players not to shake hands with the opposition players or coaches.
Recently, we have seen players in the English Premier League not shaking hands before or after the match. Walking on the same lines, PV Sindhu has decided not to shake hands, but to do a ‘namaste’. Hence, she has adopted a very traditional way of keeping the virus at bay.
Fearing the contamination, many top Indian players have decided to give the tournament a miss. This includes renowned names like HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma and Sourabh Verma. But Sindhu has stated that she is not considering walking the same way. Alongside Saina Nehwal & Co., she is all set to depart for England.
Alongside that, she is also taking other protective measures, like a face mask and hand sanitizers. “We need to avoid it (handshakes). It’s always good to be on the safer side, to take extra care of oneself. Wear protective masks, use hand sanitizers all the time, do not move in groups and avoid crowded places. It’s good to be careful all the time,” she said, according to reports in Business Today.
Sports Minister suggests to not shake hands
The Sports Minister of India, Kiren Rijiju has also advised the athletes as well as the common citizens, to completely avoid shaking hands with anyone. He has encouraged the players to use the ‘namaste’ gesture, or do with salutation words and phrases like ‘Jai Hind’ and ‘Salaam’.
” I advise our sportspersons and common citizens also to be careful while mingling with various people. For some time, it’s absolutely not necessary to shake hands or hug. We can manage with our traditional Namaste, Salaam, Jai Hind and many local words for greetings,” Rijiju stated.
