From handshakes to buffets, these 20 things could become obsolete after the coronavirus pandemic

In April, Dr. Fauci said, "As a society, just forget about shaking hands. We don't need to shake hands. We've got to break that custom."

Many buffet and salad bar restaurants have closed in the wake of the pandemic. Salad bar chain, Sweet Tomatoes, recently shuttered all 97 of its locations nationwide due to its inability to continue operations during the pandemic.

On March 6, USA Today reported that "Costco stores in California, Washington state and Florida said they did not know when Costco would begin offering free food samples again."

Previous investigations have found touch screens, like those found in fast-food restaurants, have bacteria on their surfaces.

In a statement released on March 21, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said, "With identified community transmission, it is important that shoppers keep their reusable bags at home given the potential risk to baggers, grocers and customers."

According to Dr. Isaac Bogoch from the University of Toronto, "If people are sharing food, the virus may contaminate the food that they're eating or on the fork or knife that they're sharing. And that's a perfect way to transmit this to other people."

Dr. Neel Gandhi, a professor of infectious diseases, epidemiology and global health at Emory University, told ESPN, "When we talk about maximum transmission [of the coronavirus], the hands are the place where I focus on the most. When we talk about the high-five and also the handshake, this is almost the perfect pathogen to spread it."

Lines across the country now have 6-foot markers to keep people spaced out while they wait. Lines for grocery stores in cities are snaking around blocks as shoppers attempt to safely distance while they wait to enter reduced-capacity establishments.

Many people around the world have found unique and clever ways to say cheers without getting close to one another. On April 14, The Sun reported that quarantined neighbors in Italy used poles to clink their glasses from their balconies.

In the first weeks of the pandemic, all toll booths in the New Jersey metro area banned cash. Drivers with E-ZPass, a system of collecting payment electronically, would face no changes, while drivers without it would be billed by mail.

On May 19, Rolling Stone reported "America's first pandemic concert" by blues-rock band Bishop Gunn in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The venue welcomed 200 fans, down from its usual 1,000, and required them to wear masks and sit in assigned seats set up for social distancing. Fans also had temperature checks before they were allowed in, and restroom capacities were limited to 10 people at a time.

Albert De Plazaola, global strategy director at design firm Unispace, told the BBC, "We may have lived with the flu for many years, but this is the first time our generation has experienced a pandemic. We're now hyper aware of health risks, whether real or imagined. And employers are hypersensitive about the potential for liability if people get sick at work."

Research on how long the coronavirus can live on surfaces has stated that it can remain on plastic for up to three days.

AZ Central reported that after a Latino man gave his infected mother a hug, he came down with the coronavirus, as did many of his other family members who had been hugging and kissing one another.

Rachel Hatzipanagos, from the Washington Post, wrote in an opinion piece, "Shaken by fears over the coronavirus, close-knit Latinx families like mine have been forced to hold back one of the fundamental ways we interact with each other. Physical displays of affection are our love language. But what happens when you have to show your love from six feet away?"

Business Insider reported that TSA is now telling passengers, "Do not place personal items such as wallets, keys or phone in a bin. Instead, secure them in carry-on property to be screened through the X-ray system."

Marketplace reported that changes that promote the health and safety of passengers and workers are likely to be permanent.

Robyn Gershon, an epidemiology professor at the NYU School of Global Public Health, told The Atlantic, "Doorknobs, coffee makers, toilets, common-use refrigerators, sinks, phones, keyboards [can all] be a source of transmission if contaminated with the agent."

Angela Rasmussen, a virologist with the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University, told The New York Times, "We don't have any data about how long the virus remains infectious on water fountains, but, given their proximity to other people's mouths and noses, I would say you should not."

Though getting rid of cash may help stop the spread of disease, it comes with more than a few trade-offs. Older Americans who are less likely to be tech-savvy, and Americans who may not have bank accounts or cards, will suffer.

Vallie Brown, a cash advocate and former Democratic member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, told Politico, "Even in this pandemic crisis, we have the same vulnerable people we had before that did not have access to banks or credit cards."

Many doctors' offices that did not see patients virtually have started doing so during the pandemic, and are likely to keep it as an option in the future.

Though in some cases telemedicine can be a more convenient and efficient option, patients should reach out to their primary care provider when in doubt.

Henry Harteveldt, founder of Atmosphere Research Group, a travel analysis firm in San Francisco, told The New York Times, "Business travel won't come back before we hear from public health officials that it's safe to travel."

On April 22, Business Insider reported that Zoom had reached 300 million daily meeting participants.

• Read more:
• 18 critical things we've learned about the coronavirus since the earliest reported cases in China
• France recorded 70 new coronavirus cases in schools, a week after it let more than 1 million kids go back to class
• Photos from across the US show what the new normal looks like as states reopen — from temperature scanners at the Apple store to marked circles at public parks