Elbow bump your way to safe greeting amid new Omicron threat – – Magalong

Mayor Benjamin Magalong reminded anew residents to ditch handshakes and even the erstwhile recommended fist bumps in favor of the safer elbow bumps in greeting  people while the country faces fresh coronavirus threat due to new omicron variant mutations.

The mayor said there were studies negating the supposed safety of doing the fist bump which was recommended in lieu of handshakes at the height of the coronavirus disease surges.

“Elbow bump appears to be the safest way of greeting in this time of new and highly transmissible sub-variants because there were findings that fist bumps can still aid in the spread of the virus,” the mayor said.

He said people should remain conscious of the virus safety tips along with the minimum public health standards established in the past two years.

“The pandemic is not yet over and we should continue to be vigilant,” he said.

The city earlier brought out the possibility of an increase in the number of cases due to two omicron mutations – sublineage BA 2.12.1 and new variant BA 4 – both known to be more transmissible than the original variant which had already entered the country.  However, the hike is not expected to reach the level of the surge caused by the omicron original variant last January. The mayor assured the city’s readiness in such eventuality with a contingency plan and systems and resources in place. – Aileen P. Refuerzo