U.S. President Joe Biden was advised to avoid shaking hands and other physical contacts during his Middle East tour because of the surge of new cases of COVID-19 infections, the Washington Post reported.

The newspaper noted that Biden, whose health is of concern to the administration, has so far failed to follow these recommendations, as the politician has always been prone to physical contact.

At the same time, writes the NYT, the new rules may be due to the fact that the American president does not want to shake hands with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, as the countries have not yet normalized relations after the murder of opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Biden and bin Salman are scheduled to meet tomorrow.