Elbow bump

In 2006, due to fears of a possible avian flu pandemic, the WHO proposed using the elbow bump as a means of "keeping other people's cooties at arms length.

"[2] Michael Bell has been a principal advocate for using the elbow bump, noting that it can also help constrain the spread of diseases such as Ebola, by modeling social behavior that limits physical contact.

[3] As in 2006, the elbow bump was supported by a number of health officials,[8] such as Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent.

[11] During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, health officials advised people to avoid physical contact with others, including handshaking; the elbow bump was suggested as an alternative.

[4] By 2009, the elbow bump was endorsed by many university officials,[15] Nobel laureate Peter Agre,[16] then President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the World Health Organization.

Justin Trudeau (left) and Boris Johnson (right), Canadian and British Prime Ministers respectively, performing an elbow bump at the 47th G7 summit in 2021.
Nobel prize winner Peter Agre recommends elbow bumping to prevent flu at a meeting of the AAAS in 2009
Dominic Raab ( UK 's Foreign Secretary ) elbow bumps Eva-Maria Liimets ( Estonia 's Minister of Foreign Affairs ) in Tallinn in March 2021