The New Rules of Covid-Etiquette: Be Awkward, Not Rude

Social interactions were relatively easy to ignore during lockdown, but they’ve been thrust into the spotlight as people take vacations, form back-to-school plans, and contemplate reopened restaurants. It seems everyone has to make up their own rules of behavior.

Enter the etiquette experts, whose advice now extends beyond simple socializing to mitigating the virus. A switch-up in protocols is nothing new, they say: In medieval times, knights would raise their face mask to signal friendly intent, a gesture that evolved into the hat tip in Western societies in the 19th and 20th centuries.