Many citizens have visibly changed their behavior since the spread of the virus in Lebanon. Joseph Eid / AFP
Lebanese are now forced to adapt to this new reality. At the presidential palace in Baabda, visitors are now being asked to wash their hands and use antiseptic, according to witnesses who recently visited the palace.
Some gyms and various leisure facilities are now less frequented. People are going to supermarkets carrying antibacterial wipes. Some department stores have posted instructions on how to fight coronavirus: small signs can be found near the cash registers where employees greet customers wearing latex gloves. Even protestors who continue to demonstrate against the ruling class are now shouting slogans wearing surgical masks.
Such precautions have multiplied in all public places. But what about visiting relatives and friends, paying condolences, gathering in places of worship, etc. In a society where social life is particularly intense, this almost unprecedented experience of the spread of a new virus has a very special resonance.
In its world review of "new habits and customs in the time of coronavirus", AFP cited Lebanon where a “Foot shake" video has gone viral, showing singer Ragheb Alama and actor Michel Abu Suleiman, hilariously shaking feet, while making kissing sounds. This is meant to replace the three traditional kisses on the cheek,with a less "risky" gesture!
On a more serious note, the question of human contact at a time the virus is spreading arises on various social occasions. The municipality of Dour Shweir (Metn) posted on its Facebook page, the precautions to be taken during condolences in the village. Referring to the "directives of the World Health Organization for the fight against coronavirus," the municipality made the following recommendations: "For additional precautions, and in order to protect the health of grieving families and of their visitors, we ask the inhabitants coming to offer their condolences in churches or in public places, to replace the handshakes and hugs with a hand placed on the heart.”
In churches and in mosques
The risk of catching the virus at religious gatherings is an additional concern. Spain now discourages the traditional kiss to the Virgin at the beginning of Lent, while the Netherlands has prohibited the act of putting the Eucharist directly into one’s mouth. Drinking the holy water from the fonts has also been banned. In Lebanon, Christian believers are pondering. "At church, when it was time to give one another the sign of peace, the priest avoided reaching out to his neighbor. We all understood that this should stop for the time being,” said a churchgoer who requested anonymity. “In contrast, the priest handed us the Eucharist.”
According to a young Ethiopian migrant worker, "the pastor of the Protestant Church made the faithful aware of the precautions to be taken to avoid contagion during mass.”
Patriarchal vicar Mgr. Boulos Sayah told L’OLJ that there were no specific instructions from the Church. "However, I believe that this topic will be raised during the meeting of bishops on Wednesday."
Consequently, the Maronite bishops urged the faithful not to give each other the sign of peace to avoid shaking hands, and the priests to give them the host in the hand. This, they said, would be applied "only during this period."
Mgr. Sayah, however, emphasized that “precautionary measures must apply to all public places where gatherings are regular, otherwise any directives applied in places of worship would be useless."
The apprehension is the same in the Muslim communities. Sheikh Mohammad Nokkari, a Sunni dignitary, explained to L’OLJ that even if there are no clear directives from the religious authorities, "it is advised for people living in high-risk neighborhoods such as those where numerous residents have returned from Iran, to pray at home if they deem it safer.
“We are spreading in the mosques the same information as everywhere else, like coughing in a handkerchief or using your elbow,” he said. “We have already noticed some changes in the worshippers’ habits. Last Friday, there were fewer people in the mosques."
(This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour on the 3rd of March)
