‘Sorry, we can’t do that anymore!’: Dutch PM accidentally shakes hand immediately after warning entire country against doing so

Leader goes on live TV to tell public to refrain from popular greeting due to coronavirus

The Dutch prime minister undermined his own public health advice in record time this week by shaking hands with a medical expert immediately after warning people against doing so.

Mark Rutte, the Netherlands' PM, had just gone on live TV to tell his country’s 17 million residents to stop shaking hands in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus when he made the mistake.

“From now on, we stop shaking hands,” Mr Rutte said at a news conference on Monday, following a crisis meeting of government ministers to discuss the outbreak, which has killed four people in the Netherlands.

“You can foot-tap or elbow-bump, or whatever you can come up with,” he added.

“I see all kinds of great variations on shaking hands emerging at schools, but from today we stop shaking hands.”

However, Mr Rutte was not able to follow his own advice, as seconds later he instinctively reached over to shake the hand of Jaap van Dissel, the head of the Dutch Centre for Infectious Disease Control.

The infections expert quickly pointed out Mr Rutte’s error.

“Sorry, sorry, we can't do that anymore! Do it again,” the prime minister said, as he broke into a laugh.

The pair then demonstrated an elbow bump greeting before leaving the stage.

On Tuesday, Dutch health officials said the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country had risen by 61 to 382, with four deaths reported.

The mistake has shown the difficulty governments face with attempts to prevent outbreaks of the virus, formally known as Covid-19, which is believed to spread in a similar way to influenza.

Last week, the World Health Organisation said it was understood that coronavirus spreads “via small droplets of fluid from the nose and mouth of someone who is sick”.

Health officials have advised people to wash their hands often with soap and water, avoid close contact with people who are unwell, and cover their mouth or nose with a tissue or sleeve when coughing/sneezing to prevent the spread of the virus.

Additional reporting by Reuters.