Newcastle ban handshakes to guard against coronavirus

Premier League club Newcastle United have introduced a handshake ban to protect against the spread of the coronavirus, manager Steve Bruce said on Friday.

"There's a ritual here that everybody shakes hands with everybody as soon as we see each other every morning -- we've stopped that on the advice of the doctor," Bruce said.

"We are like everybody else. Thankfully, we've got a superb doctor here and he will keep us informed of what we have to do.

"We're like everybody else, we're glued to the TV for where it's going to go next and let's hope it doesn't get any worse in this country."
"We cannot do anything different to that."
He added: "In the end nobody has told us yet that we don't have to play football so as long as that doesn't happen we will play football, which is a contact sport, not to forget."