The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 6 letter word AIR KISSED
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
A
I
R
K
I
S
S
E
D
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Greeted in a Covid-safer way, say" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case greeted in a covid-safer way, say = air kissed.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.