JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — Vice President Mike Pence replaced the traditional handshake with an elbow bump as he greeted Governor Jay Inslee on a trip to Washington state amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Health officials and politicians are encouraging the elbow bump as a healthier alternative.
“We’re encouraging communities to think about the steps they can take to limit spread within communities to mitigate the effects of the virus,” U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said at a news conference Monday. “We should probably rethink the handshake for a while.”
The Washington stop was part of a cross-country trip for Pence, who is leading the White House Coronavirus Task Force.