The Dutch Prime Minister shook hands on stage after warning against the greeting in a speech at a news conference.

Remember last week when the California Health Official urged people not to touch their face and immediately licked her finger?

Well she's not alone in a sea of incongruences.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte addressed the public after a crisis meeting of government ministers on Monday to discuss the COVID-19 outbreak.

"From this moment on, we stop shaking hands," he said.

"You can do a foot kiss, bump elbows, whatever you want. I see all kinds of great variations on shaking hands emerging at schools, but from today we stop shaking hands."

We have so many questions. Starting with what's a foot kiss?

Anyway, the second he wrapped up the press conference, he shook hands with Jaap van Dissel of the Public Health Institute, who quickly pointed out the premier's error.

"Sorry, sorry, we can't do that any more. Do it again," Rutte said after the handshake. Then they bumped elbows and looked incredibly awkward.

People were quick to point out the irony.

This is all of us.

In conclusion:

As of 3pm on Tuesday, there are approximately 113,672 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with 4,012 deaths reported globally linked to the illness.