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Can Coronavirus Spread Through Banknotes and Coins? Here's What Experts Say

Can Coronavirus Spread Through Banknotes and Coins? Here's What Experts Say
Can Coronavirus Spread Through Banknotes and Coins? Here's What Experts Say

How long do coronaviruses remain infectious on banknotes and coins? Is it possible to become infected through contact with cash? Let's find it out the answers from the experts.

Written by Satata Karmakar |Updated : August 2, 2021 10:16 AM IST

Coronavirus is a deadly infection that enters the body and damages several organs which can also lead to the death of the infected individual. It is over 12 months now that the virus outbreak was first noted in the city of Wuhan, China. The virus has claimed millions of lives worldwide and is still wreaking havoc in many parts of the globe. The virus is airborne and is highly transmissible. It generally enters the body through the eyes, mouth, and nose and directly hits the lungs. While the fear of getting Covid infection from banknotes and coins has driven much more contactless payments during the pandemic, researchers say the risk is far too less.

Can COVID-19 Spread Through Banknotes And Coins?

How long do coronaviruses remain infectious on banknotes and coins? Is it possible to become infected through contact with cash? Let's find it out the answers from the experts. A team of researchers carried out a study in which they had treated various euro coins and banknotes with virus solutions of different concentrations and over several days observed how long infectious virus was still detectable. A stainless-steel surface served as a control in each case.

According to the researchers, the infectious COVID-19 virus was present on the stainless-steel surface after seven days, however, on the 10-euro banknote, it took only three days to completely disappear. "For the 10-cent, 1-euro, and 5-cent coins after six days, two days and one hour, respectively, no infectious virus was detectable.," a researcher was quoted as saying. "The rapid decline on the 5-cent piece is because it's made of copper, on which viruses are known to be less stable," explained Daniel Todt, from the varsity's Department of Molecular and Medical Virology.

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How COVID-19 Spread From Banknotes To Human Hands?

The researchers also developed a new method to study how well the virus is transferred from a surface to the fingertip. The contaminated banknotes, coins, and credit-card-like PVC plates with harmless coronaviruses and, under high-security conditions, also with SARS-CoV-2. These surfaces were then touched, while still wet or when already dried, by test subjects with their fingertips or, in the case of SARS-CoV-2, with artificial skin.

Cell cultures were then inoculated with the viruses adhering to the fingertips. This allowed the researchers to determine the number of transmitted virus particles that were still infectious. "We saw that immediately after the liquid had dried, there was practically no transmission of infectious virus," Todt said. "Under realistic conditions, infection with SARS-CoV-2 from cash is very unlikely," he added.

Smear infections via surfaces are almost non-existent. The current study was conducted with the Alpha variant of SARS-CoV-2 in addition to the wild-type variant. "We assume that other variants, such as the currently predominant Delta variant, also behave similarly," said Eike Steinmann, Professor at the varsity.

(With inputs from Agencies)