German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer on Monday raised a rare laugh when he refused to shake the hand of his boss, Chancellor Angela Merkel, at a meeting in Berlin.
This happened amidst Germany’s efforts to contain an outbreak of coronavirus that has infected 150 people.
A short video of the event that made the rounds rapidly online showed Merkel joining a migration meeting in the German capital, walking behind Seehofer’s chair and then offering to shake his hand.
The minister put into action the medical advice to hinder the spread of the coronavirus, including thorough hand hygiene and avoiding too much bodily contact and refusal to shake.
Merkel, however, held her hands up, as both political veterans and many other attendees, laughed off the incident.
On Friday Merkel said at an event in her Stralsund constituency that she would not be shaking anyone’s hand.
The integration summit being held in the Berlin chancellery was focused on what potential immigrants to Germany should know before arriving in the country.
dpa/NAN.
Coronavirus: Minister snubs Chancellor Merkel handshake
German Chancellor Angela Merkel takes her oath to serve her fourth term as chancellor following her election by the Bundestag on March 14, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. Members of the new German government, a coalition between Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and Social Democrats (SPD), were sworn in today and will begin work immediately. The new government took the longest to create of any government in modern German history following elections last September that left the German Christian Democrats (CDU) as the strongest party but with too few votes in order to have a strong hand in determining the next coalition.
