Kenyans swap handshake for stick shake

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

Instead of a traditional handshake between traders in animal markets in the north to signify the completion of a trade deal, health officials are showing them how to use a herder’s or an elder’s stick.

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

According to the government’s guideline, someone who has died from Covid-19 must be buried within 24 hours.

Other funerals must take place within a week with only close relatives in attendance.