Kenyan goat traders dump handshake for stick-shake

Kenyan health officials are giving communities safer options to substitute traditions that require physical contact in the wake of coronavirus outbreak

Instead of a traditional handshake between traders in northern Kenya's animal markets to signify the completion of a trade deal, health officials are showing them how to use herders' sticks or an elder's stick.

Here is a tweet from the ministry of health demonstrating the new way of sealing trade deals:

A Health Promotion official in Garissa County demonstrates the best way of bargaining at the goat market using sticks instead of shaking hands to fight #COVID19 in the area. @garissahealth team also installed four hand washing facilities in the market. #KomeshaCorona update pic.twitter.com/xAhjxmxomU

— Ministry of Health (@MOH_Kenya) May 6, 2020

Another tradition that has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic is elaborate burials, especially in western Kenya.

The government's guideline is for burial of coronavirus victims within 24 hours, while those who have died from other causes should be buried only by close family members within a week.