However, the communion in the hand is no more sanitary than on the tongue.  A handshake / hug with multiple adults and children during the Sign of Peace, especially in a country to which one has not yet developed local immunities, create a situation where you are "receiving" the host not merely from the hand of the priest and yourself, but from the many with whom you have just interacted.   If one kneels while receiving and extends the tongue, the chance of the priest actually touching the tongue (provided he knows how to hold the host) is negligible.
I admit to not having completed a Clarivate search but the CDC has no information about any diseases passed via communion on the tongue.  During the 1917 pandemic, communion was never identified as a vector for infection.