Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, wishing someone well after they sneeze is not a common practice where I grew up. Instead, we immediately follow our sneezes by saying "Excuse me!" for manners sake. This is definitely not the case in many other countries from around the world - each has their own way of responding to sneezes.
Growing up watching TV, especially American movies, I always wondered why they say "Bless you!" after another person sneezes but I've never bothered finding out the reason. Later, when I started to learn German and visited Switzerland for the first time, they have the same common courtesy of saying "Sundheit!" (Gesundheit in German) in Swiss German. In response to that, the person sneezing would then say "Danke, gliichfalls!"
(Danke, gleichfalls in German) which means "Thank you, same to you!"
Gesund means health and -heit is the equivalent of English's -hood.
So it's literally translated as "healthy-hood".
How did this come about?
There are several different guesses on the true origins of this social norm - including superstitious ones. Some says a sneeze was the body's way of trying to get rid of evil spirit and so saying "Bless you" was a way to provide a protection against the evil spirit. Some others thought that the devil could steal someone’s soul when they sneezed. Some even says that the heart briefly stops while sneezing, so people say "Bless you" to encourage the heart to start beating again; or even as a form of congratulations so that the heart continued beating. I find that really absurd.
But the most popular theory of all, and the one that makes the most sense to me, was when the bubonic plague hit Europe. Sneezing was one of plague's most obvious symptoms, so it is believed that Pope Gregory I suggested the people to say "God bless you" as a form of prayer to protect the person from death.
To most of us now - "Bless you" or "Gesundheit" is merely an utterance that's commonly taught from childhood as a polite response to a sneeze. As someone who is not used to saying "Bless you" after another person sneezes, including strangers, I have to be deliberate in saying it. I try to get used to it, especially since I'm living in a foreign country where it's the cultural norm. Otherwise, it may be perceived as rude to some.
Especially during this time of Coronavirus pandemic - I definitely wouldn't mind using this sneezing opportunity to genuinely wish others good health!
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